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© International News Service. 

1. Belgian Riflemen on Road to Louvain, Awaiting Coming of Germans. 

2. Mealtime for Belgian Defenders in the Field near Diest. 








Copyright by Underwood & Underwood. N. Y. 

1. Servian Soldiers in the Trenches. 

2. British Grenadier Guards Off for the Front. 



Most Terrible Conflict in History 



THE GREAT WAR 
in EUROPE 



Graphic Account of the Causes, Issues, and Operations of the Mighty 

Struggle for National Existence, Racial Independence, and 

Commercial Supremacy, Which Has 

Paralyzed Civilization. 



By 
Thomas H. Russell, A. M., LL. D. 

Noted Historical and Military Writer, Member American Historical Association, etc. 



With Introduction By 



Bishop Samuel Fallows, D. D., LL. D. 

Famous Civil War Chaplain, Chairman of the World Peace Movement, 
Chaplain Blue and Gray League, etc. 



Thrilling Stories of Modern Battles 
Involving Armies, Fleets and Aircraft 



Illustrated With Nearly 100 Actual Photographs from the Scenes of Strife. 






Copyright, 1914, 

BY 

J. R. PEPER 



NOV -9 1914 



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1 DEDICATED | 

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To the Cause of World-wide Peace, in rji 

a the belief that a recital of the horrors of a 

H War must lead to a conviction of its ab- [=j 

[■] solute injustice to the masses or civihza- 

3 tion, who are the innocent sufferers from 

pj its frightful ravages and the willful waste pj 
of national resources by methods that 
reflect little credit upon Christian nations 

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Black are -the Fields when the cannons cease r 




And White for evenawe, 

6 



-Chicago Tribune 



PREFACE 

In these days of tremendous action in Europe the public 
is eager for all forms of information regarding the momen- 
tous events that crowd the days — too eager to be content to 
await the conclusion of peace before studying the underlying 
causes of the widespread war and the records of its progress 
at every stage. 

It is therefore timely to present a volume like this, dealing 
with the conditions that have produced the European crisis 
of 1914, with the mighty issues at stake for almost every Old 
World country, and with the developments of the military and 
naval operations throughout the territory affected. In doing 
so, due regard has been had to the super-seriousness of the 
subject from every standpoint. 

In warfare, as in most other human affairs, there are 
always two or more sides to every story. The endeavor has 
been so to present the various sides in this book as to enable 
the reader to arrive at a fair judgment of the present situation 
and of the possibilities which the future has in store for the 
nations now locked in the deadliest struggle of ancient or 
modern times. 

Under the new modern conditions of warfare it is a task of 
vastly greater difficulty than ever before to record its vicissi- 
tudes, especially those of a war so colossal in its proportions 
and so tremendous in its import as that which has shaken the 
powers of Europe to their foundations and threatens more 
than one mighty throne, more than one national existence. 

But far sooner after the beginning of hostilities in 1914 
than in any former struggle between great world powers the 

7 



8 PREFACE 

contending forces came into actual contact with each other 
and the tale of horror began to pierce the double veil of mili- 
tary secrecy and censorship. The first bloody engagements 
in Belgium were reported within a few days after the German 
advance began. The French forces were active in their lost 
provinces of Alsace and Lorraine within a week, and Serb- 
Austrian engagements were of daily occurrence. Before 
thirty days had elapsed stories of the actual occurrences 
behind the screen came from a multitude of sources besides 
the official reports. From the wounded and the escaping strag- 
glers, from the home letters of officers and soldiers in the field, 
from correspondents permitted to visit the blood-stained 
battlefields, from the victors in the various engagements, from 
fleeing peasants and other non-combatants, and, above all, 
from the triumphant parades and onward pressing of the 
early conquerors, it became possible to gather and piece 
together the actual story of the war. And as the days went 
by and the mighty forces engaged in the east and in the west 
of the vast arena fought and bled and died in continuous strife, 
the material needed by the chronicler came rapidly to hand, so 
that it could be acceptably presented in a shape of permanent 
value. 

In view of the fact that the subject is of absorbing interest 
to all the people of the American Continent, no matter what 
their origin or nationality may be, this record of the events of 
the world's greatest war is therefore put forth with some con- 
fidence that it will meet with wide acceptation and approval. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 



PAGE 

Introduction 13 

I. Causes of the War 19 

National and Race Prejudices— The Triple Alliance— The 
Triple Entente — Teuton vs. Slav — Influence of Russian 
Diplomacy — Russia vs. Austria — Control of Balkan Sea- 
ports — England's Commercial Supremacy Challenged by 
Germany — Assassination of Archduke Fran'cis Ferdinand 
of Austria by a Serb. 

II. How War Was Declared 31 

Ultimatum by Austria to Servia— War Declared by Austria 
— Russia Mobilizes— Germany Declares War on Russia — 
France and England Involved— Germans Enter Belgium- 
Scenes in European Capitals. 

m. Armed Forces Involved 47 

Strength of the Opposing Armies and Fleets— Millions of 
Men Under Arms— Attitude of Italy, Turkey and Greece- 
Organization of an Army— Heavy Artillery Used in the 
War. 

IV. The Nations at War 53 

Rulers and Heirs Apparent of Countries Engaged— Areas and 
Populations— Their Exports and Imports, Principal Cities, 
Etc.— Europe's Map Often Changed— The Franco-Prussian 
War of 1870-71 — Japan Enters the War. 

V. Invasion of Belgium 69 

Belgians Rush to Defense of Their Frontier— Towns Bom- 
barded and Burned— The Defense of Liege— A German 
Officer's Experience — An Englishman's Story— The Terri- 
ble Krupp Siege Guns — Destruction of Louvain — Fall of 
Namur — German Proclamation to Inhabitants. 

VI. Surrender of Brussels 91 

Belgian Capital Occupied by the Germans Without Blood- 
shed—Important Part Played by American Minister 
Brand Whitlock— March of the Kaiser's Troops Through 
the City— Belgian Forces Retreat to Antwerp— Zeppelin 
Attacks on Antwerp — Dinant and Termonde Fall. 

9 



10 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VII. At the German Front 109 

Remarkable Story by American War Correspondent of His 
Visit to General von Boehn's Headquarters in the Field — 
The German Fighting Machine — The General's Version of 
Alleged German Atrocities. 

VIII. Britain Raises an Army 121 

Earl Kitchener Appointed Secretary for War — A New Volun- 
teer Army — Expeditionary Force Landed in France — Field 
Marshal Sir John French in Command — Colonies Rally to 
Britain's Aid — The Canadian Contingent — Indian Troops 
Called For — Native Princes Offer Aid. 

IX. Early Battles of the War 137 

Belgian Resistance to the German Advance — The Fighting at 
Vise, Haelen, Diest, Aers'chot and Tirlemont — Mons and 
Charleroi the First Great Battles of the War — Allies 
Make a Gallant Stand, but Forced to Retire Across the 
French Border. 

X. Official German Reports 161 

Dispatches of the Wolff Telegraphic Agency, as Given to the 
German People During the March on Paris — Reports of 
Military and Naval Operations from the Standpoint of the 
German General Staff. 

XI. German Advance on Paris 174 

Allies Withdraw for Ten Days, Disputing Every Inch of 
Ground with the Kaiser's Troops — Germans Push Their 
Way Through France in Three Main Columns — Official 
Reports of the Withdrawing Engagements — Paris Almost 
in Sight. 

XII. Battle of the Marne 184 

German Plans Suddenly Changed — Direction of Advance 
Swings to the Southeast when Close to the French Capital 
— Successful Resistance by the Allies — The Prolonged En- 
counter at the Marne — Germans Retreat with Allies in 
Hot Pursuit for Many Miles. 

XIII. The Russian Campaign 205 

Slow Mobilization of Troops — Invasion of German and Aus- 
trian Territory — Cossacks Lead the Van — Early Successes 
in East Prussia — "On to Berlin" — Heavy Losses Inflicted 
on Austrians — German Troops Rushed to the Defense of 
the Eastern Territory. 



CONTENTS 



11 



CHAPTER 

XIV. 



PAGE 



The Austro-Servian Campaign 228 

Declaration of War by Austria — Bombardment of Belgrade — 
Servian Capital Removed — Seasoned Soldiers of Servia 
Give a Good Account of Themselves — Many Indecisive 
Engagements —Servians in Austrian Territory. 

XV. Military Leaders of Europe 236 

Army Commanders and Staff Officers of the Nations at War 
— The Kaiser and His Family — Earl Kitchener of Khar- 
toum — Field Marshal Sir John French — King Albert of 
Belgium — The French Commander-in-Chief — Others in 
High Command. 

XVI. Americans in Europe 252 

Thousands Stranded in Belligerent Countries When War 
Came — General Shortage of Funds — Much Suffering and 
Hardship — Exciting Scenes in London, Paris and Berlin — 
Uncle Sam Sends Relief Ships and Funds. 

XVII. Typical Experiences of Wartime 258 

Scenes in the Fatherland — Conditions in Rural France — An 
Eyewitness's Story of the German Advance — Slaughter 
Fails to Stop Germans — Stories of American Visitors in 
Warring Countries. 

XVIII. Attitude of the United States 277 

President Wilson's Plea for Calm and Impartial Behavior of 
Citizens — Proclamation of Neutrality — Early Offer of 
Mediation — Reception of the Belgian Commission — The 
National Day of Prayer for Peace. 

XIX. The Mystery of the Fleets 289 

Movements of British Battleships Veiled in Secrecy — German 
Dreadnoughts in North Sea and Baltic Ports — Activity of 
Smaller Craft — English Keep Trade Routes Open — Several 
Minor Battles at Sea. 

XX. Submarines and Mines 302 

Battleships in Constant Danger from Submerged Craft — 
Opinions of Admiral Sir Percy Scott — Construction of 
Modern Torpedoes — How Mines Are Laid and Exploded 
on Contact. 

XXI. Aero-Military Operations 309 

Aerial Attacks on Cities — Some of the Achievements of the 
Airmen in the Great War — Deeds of Heroism and Daring 
— Zeppelins in Action — Their Construction and Operation. 



12 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. Battle of the Aisne 318 

Most Prolonged Encounter in History Between Gigantic 
Forces — A Far-Flung Battle Line — Germans Face French 
and British in the Aisne Valley and Fight for Weeks — 
Armies Deadlocked After a Desperate and Bloody Struggle. 

XXIII. Fall of Antwerp 345 

Great Seaport of Belgium Besieged by a Large German Force 
— Forts Battered by Heavy Siege Guns — Final Surrender 
of the City — Belgian and British Defenders Escape — 
Exodus of Inhabitants — Germans Reach the Sea. 

XXIV. The Wounded and Prisoners 359 

Typical Precautions Used by the German Army — The Sol- 
dier's First-Aid Outfit — System in Hospital Arrangements 
— How Prisoners of War Are Treated — Regulations Are 
Humane and Fair to All Concerned. 

XXV. The Christmas Ship 367 

Plan to Send Santa Claus Gifts From America to War- 
Stricken Children of Europe — A Widespread Response — 
Movement Indorsed by Press, Pulpit and Leading Citizens 
— Approved by Governments of Contending Nations. 

XXVI. Stories from the Battlefield 375 

Thrilling Incidents of the Great War Told by Actual Com- 
batants — Personal Experiences from the Lips of Survivors 
of the World's Bloodiest Battles — Tales of Prisoners of 
War, Wounded Soldiers, and Refugees Rendered Homeless 
in the Blighted Arena of Conflict. 



XXVII. Later Events of the War 

Results of the Battle of the Rivers — Fierce Fighting in 
Northern France — Developments on the Eastern Battle 
Front — The Campaign in the Pacific — Naval Activities of 
the Powers. 



409 



INTRODUCTION 

By Bishop Samuel Fallows, D. D., LL. D., Famous Civil War 
Chaplain and Chairman of the World Peace Movement. 

"Too long o'er this fair blooming world 
The Hag of blood has been unfurled, 

Polluting God's fine day: 
Whilst, as each maddening people reels, 
War onward drives his scythed wheels, 
And, at his horse's bloody heels, 

Shriek murder and dismay." 

I arraign war in the name of the ghastly armies of the 
mangled dead; of the countless devastated and desolate 
homes; of the millions of broken-hearted, wailing widows 
fighting a grim and losing battle for bread; of helpless or- 
phans knowing no father's providence and care; of aged 
parents left without the strong hand of loving sons on which 
to lean. 

I arraign it in the name of the sacks and outrages and 
massacres which accompany it in so-called Christian lands; 
of unspeakable brutalities to innocent women and children; 
of the wanton destruction of venerated structures; of altars 
desecrated ; of sacred landmarks wiped out ; of art treasures 
rifled and ruined. I arraign it in the name of our common 
Humanity; in the name of the Christianity of the Prince of 
Peace. 

Israel Zangwill, in stirring, comprehensive lines, attacks 
the well-known aphorism, "In peace prepare for war." He 
approaches it mainly on the commercial side : 

"To safeguard peace we must prepare for war" — 
I know this maxim ; it was forged in hell. 
This wealth of ships and guns inflames the vulgar 
And makes the very war it guards against. 

13 



14 INTRODUCTION 

The God of War is now a man of business, 
With vested interests. 

So much sunk Capital, such countless callings, 
The Army, Navy, Medicine, the Church — 
To bless and bury, Music, Engineering, 
Red-tape Departments, Commissariats, 
Stores, Transports, Ammunition, Coaling-stations, 
Fortifications, Cannon-foundries, Ship-yards, 
Arsenals, Ranges, Drill-halls, Floating Docks, 
War-loan Promoters, Military Tailors, 
Camp-followers, Canteens, War-correspondents, 
Horse-breeders, Armorers, Torpedo-builders, 
Pipeclay and Medal Vendors, Big Drum Makers, 
Gold Lace Embroiderers, Opticians, Buglers, 
Tent-makers, Banner-weavers, Powder-mixers, 
Crutches and Cork Limb Manufacturers, 
Balloonists, Mappists, Heliographers, 
Inventors, Flying Men, and Diving Demons, 
Beelzebub and all his Hosts, who, whether 
In Water, Earth or Air, among them pocket, 
When trade is brisk, a million pounds a week ! 

This is true for the world at large. Were there Universal 
Peace, there would be no need to prepare for War. But 
swords are not yet beaten into plow-shares nor spears into 
pruning hooks. The Savage in the human breast has not yet 
been obliterated. The millenium is not yet here. We have 
not yet among the peoples of the earth the sentiment voiced 
by James Bryce, former Ambassador of Great Britain to the 
United States, that "Our country is not the only thing to 
which we owe allegiance. We need a spirit which will not 
only hate war because it is hideous and hellish, but will love 
and seek peace because it desires the welfare of the peoples." 
Christian Nations have not yet come around to Lowell's 
Philosophy : 

"Ez for war, I call it murder, 

There you have it plain and flat ; 
I don 't want to go no further 

Than my Testament for that." 

This very hour nearly the whole European world is at 
war. Christian Kings are hurling millions of men against 



INTRODUCTION 15 

each other in one of the bloodiest wars of the ages. "The 
whole orb of the earth," as Cicero averred of the Roman 
Civil War, "is shaken by the tramp of contending hosts." 
But that orb, convulsed to its core to-day, is another orb than 
that of ancient times. Interlocked and interrelated are the 
interests of every man and woman and child in the whole 
round globe with that gigantic conflict across the seas. 

The whirligig of time brings about marvelous changes. 
If "politics makes strange bedfellows," so does war. Eng- 
land and Prussia were fighting together during the Napo- 
leonic Wars, and Waterloo was won by their joint forces. 
During the Crimean War, England and France were fighting 
against Russia. 

It was of the English and Scotch and Irish soldiers in that 
War that Bayard Taylor wrote : 

"They lay along the battery's side, 
Beneath the smoking cannon, 
Brave hearts from Severn and from Clyde, 
And from the banks of Shannon." 

To-day England and France and Russia are arrayed 
against Germany and incidentally against Austria. Every 
pocket, pantry and palate in the United States is affected. 
Our medicines, our clothing, as well as our iood, feel its bane- 
ful influence. Truly the world is one as never before. 

It is with august sorrow that all true Christians must view 
this unhappy and unholy War. I do not try to analyze its 
causes, they may be deep and widespread. Racial feeling, 
territorial boundaries, competitive commerce, may be among 
them. Very clearly the maxim, "Live and let live," has been 
disregarded. It would appear as though solemn treaties be- 
tween the great contending nations were but cobweb con- 
tracts, to be crushed in the mad caprice of the hour. 

The carrying on of the hideous conflict has been with 
weapons of destruction never used before. Human ingenuity 
has been put on the rack to devise them. 

In our great Civil War I saw brave men biting off their 
cartridges and loading their muskets at the muzzle. 



16 INTRODUCTION 

To-day the rapid-firing guns can mow down scores and 
even hundreds at a single discharge. Cannon in which a man 
can hide himself belch forth their ponderous bolts of death. 
God's pure upper air has been made the scene of deadly 
combat. Huge monsters of destruction traverse that aerial 
sea and drop down their explosive, mangling bombs. And 
to the everlasting disgrace of the twentieth century, it has 
been stated that bombs have been hurled in the dead of night 
upon a peaceful, sleeping city in the wide encircling zone of 
the present war, and have torn in pieces men and women and 
children. 

I have just been reading in an old English chronicle of the 
barbarities practised in the eleventh century by the Danes 
and Scots and Picts and Saxons and Britons, the progenitors 
of many of these warring soldiers across the sea. I dare not 
rewrite the horrible story for American eyes. But a cele- 
brated chieftain by the name of Oliver, who had some hu- 
manity in him, gained the contemptuous surname of Burnakal, 
or the " Preserver of Children," from his dislike to the fa- 
vorite amusement of his soldiers — that of tossing infants on 
the points of their spears. "Women were maltreated and 
mangled. 

One of my religious periodicals has just recited the horrors 
of taking a town by storm a hundred years ago. "The blood 
of the most virtuous husbands and fathers, of the best moth- 
ers, of gray-haired ancients, of tender infants, stained the 
walls of the peaceful habitations and streamed out of the 
houses into the streets." I forbear going further with the 
terrible tale. This massacre took place in the village of 
Woerden in Holland. The victims were Dutch ; the murderers 
were soldiers of France. 

But in the most advanced century in the world's history, 
with its Peace Congresses, its Hague Tribunals, its far-flung 
banner of Missionary effort, its tens of thousands of Christian 
Pulpits, its world-wide humanitarian impulses, its refined 
art, its enlightening literature, the barbarous mutilating mis- 
siles are hurled from the skies, tearing and rending a defense- 
less # people. And this is done by a Christian Nation to a 
Christian Nation. This is twentieth-century warfare. Shame 



INTRODUCTION 17 

upon every world Power for permitting it! General Sher- 
man said, ' ' War is Hell. ' ' But it was of war that had nothing 
of this character in it. For this is cool, deliberate, demoniacal 
murder. It has not one single redeeming feature in it. Let 
it be stopped, and stopped forever! 

In its relations to these Old "World nations, the United 
States occupies a unique and peerless position. She is the 
commanding neutral Power. The result of our stupendous 
Civil conflict has been the welding together of every portion 
of our common country, for we are one as we were not before 
the days of strife. An indissoluble unity of ideas binds us 
together, one flag of supremacy and glory waves above us. 
For its honor every drop of American blood and every dollar 
of American money are pledged. 

This "Mountain of the Lord's house, established in the 
top of the mountains and exalted above the hills," has seen 
all nations flow into it, as beheld thousands of years ago in 
Isaiah's prophetic vision. Every nation warring to-day had 
its representative fifty years ago fighting * l to keep our coun- 
try on the map of the earth, and our flag in heaven. ' ' Millions 
of them have come since to our shores. We have given them 
a cordial welcome. They are being fused into one mighty 
homogeneous whole. Events have proved that while they 
have not lost sympathy with the land of their nativity and 
with their kin now fighting in the European War, they are 
Americans, first and last. 

They are heeding the President's appeal not to break the 
American Nation's solidarity as a neutral Power by over- 
zealous advocacy of the position of any of the contending 

hosts. 

• # • 

One of the most gladdening and practical conceptions for 
the happiness of the children who are sufferers from the great 
European war now raging, is the Christmas ship to sail from 
our loved America to the lands beyond the sea. 

It is to go freighted with the gifts of love and sacrifice, to 
cheer the hearts and homes of the many, many thousands 
made desolate by this terrible conflict. 



18 INTRODUCTION 

The movement began as a purely local one in the city of 
Chicago. It has now become national and international in its 
scope. It has not only been enthusiastically received by the 
pulpit and press throughout the land and by various human- 
itarian and benevolent organizations representing all faiths 
and shades of opinion, but by other neutral nations besides our 
own. The idea is an epoch-making one. It is fully carrying 
out the Spirit of Him Who came as a littie child among men, 
Who took little children up in His arms and blessed them, 
Whose advent in the world was heralded by the Angelic (Jhoir 
with songs of ''Peace on earth and goodwill to men." 

Surely the angels will help convoy this vessel to its destina- 
tion ! What untoid expressions of gladness and thankfulness 
will rise from the hearts to the lips of the saddened ones who 
shall receive the benefactions! Rainbows of hope and trust 
shall gleam from the widow's tears, and Heaven itself shall be 
reflected in the sparkle and glow of childish eyes. 

Fill the vessel then to the full with timely gifts. With them 
send the fervent prayer for Peace founded upon righteousness. 
Let it be a prayer for a world-wide peace that the prophecy of 
our own beloved Longfellow may be fulfilled among every 
nation, kindred, people and tongue : 

"Peace, and no longer from its brazen portals, 
The blasts of war 's great organ shake the skies ; 

But beautiful as songs of the immortals, 
Love's holy melodies arise. 




^»awgg^^gg»«*g 





?£,*£" 



Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

1. Servian Red Cross Nurses Ministering to the Wounded. 

2. German Ambulance Corps at Work After a Battle. 




© International News Service. 

1. French Cuirassier Being Fed by Belgian Woman. 

2. Major Richardson of the British Army and Two of His Bloodhounds 

Used to Find Wounded Soldiers on Belgian Battlefields. 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 



BELGIAN SOLDIERS IN DEEP TRENCHES AT HOFRTADE— MANY MILES OF SIMILAR 
TRENCHES WERE OCCUPIED BY THESE GALLANT DEFENDERS OF THEIR COUNTRY 




(c) Sun Printing and Publishing Assn. 



HIGHLANDERS, HOLDING ON TO THE STIRRUPS OF THE SCOTS GREYS, CHARGING 
WITH THE CAVALRY IN THE BATTLE AT ST. QUENTIN 



CHAPTER I 

CAUSES OF THE WAR 

National and Race Prejudices — The Triple Alliance — The 
Triple Entente — Teuton vs. Slav — Influence of Russian 
Diplomacy — Russia vs. Austria — Control of Balkan 
Seaports England's Commercial Supremacy Chal- 
lenged by *ermany — Assassination of Archduke Fran- 
cis Ferdl nd of Austria by a Serb. 

WITHIN" tJue space of less than a week from August 1, 
1914, five of the six "great powers" of Europe became 
involved in a war that quickly developed into the 
greatest and most sanguinary struggle of all time. The 
European conflagration, long foreseen by statesmen and diplo- 
mats, and dreaded of all alike, had broken out. 

Beg^ning with the thunder of Austrian guns at Belgrade, 
the revei "ations of war were heard in every capital of the 
Old World. Austria's declaration of war against Servia was 
followed by the alignment of Germany with its Teuton neigh- 
bor against ti, forces of Russia, France and England. Italy 
alone, of the sL\ great powers, declined to align itself with its 
formal allies a-id made a determined effort at the outset to 
maintain its neutrality. 

Soon tb" v '"?hways of Europe resounded with the hoof- 
beats and'the uamp of marching hosts, with the rattle of arms 
and the rumble of artillery. Of such a war, once begun, no man 
could preset the end. But the world realized that it was a 
catastrophe of unparalleled proportions, a failure of civiliza- 
tion in its stronghold, a disaster to humanity. 

For more than forty years the great powers of Europe had 
^een at peace with one another. Though war had threatened 
now and then, diplomacy had avoided the actual outbreak. 
Br.t that the dreaded conflict was inevitable had long been 

19 



20 CAUSES OF THE WAR 

recognized. For its coming immense armaments had been pre- 
pared, until the burdens of taxation laid upon the people had 
become in themselves a source of danger. But behind it all 
and the cause of all was the thirst for aggrandizement of 
empire, political, military, and commercial, and the mutual 
fear and jealousy of kings. Ranged on opposite sides and 
thus striving to maintain the ''balance of power," stood the 
Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and 
the Triple Entente of Russia, France, and England, watching 
each move of the other with suspicion, and ominously greeting 
each attempt to acquire new territory or to better commercial 
and strategic facilities by the control of a port or a trade 
route, with the savage rattle of the sword in the scabbard. 

THE CONTROL. OF SEAPORTS 

For generations Austria and Russia have struggled in an 
intricate diplomatic game for the control of Balkan seaports 
on the Mediterranean. The Balkan States have been the 
pawns and have moved at the will of their masters. Lying 
directly across Austria's commercial route to the iEgean by 
way of the Sanjak of Novi Bazar to Salonica, Servia inter- 
poses a bitter curb to Austria's dream of commercial and 
political aggrandizement. For this reason, Russia is Servia 's 
ally and supports it in every move. 

The destruction of Servia by Austria would mean the 
political and military control by Austria of the great route 
to Salonica and Constantinople. This could not be counte- 
nanced by Russia without war. Allied with Austria stood Ger- 
many and Italy, both with great interests in the Balkans, and 
ready at any cost to exclude Russia from the Mediterranean. 
With Russia in the Triple Entente were France and England, 
France eager to leap at the throat of Germany to regain 
Alsace-Lorraine and to wipe out the bitterness of defeat in the 
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, and England seeking but a 
pretext to check the growing power of Germany, which threat- 
ened her supremacy. Thus Europe stood with drawn sword 
watching the conflict beyond the Save. 



CAUSES OF THE WAR 21 

AMBITIONS OF SERVIA 

Then came the recent Balkan Wars, and their outcome was 
viewed with alarm. Austria uneasily watched the approach 
of Servia to the Adriatic and the .ZEgean. The formation of 
the new new autonomous state of Albania, between Servia and 
the Adriatic, was all that prevented Austria from attacking 
Servia during that crisis. The terms of peace left the situa- 
tion, as it concerned Austria and Russia, practically as it had 
been. Austria made no further progress toward the sea, and 
Russia remained the ally of Servia. Bulgaria had failed in 
its efforts to reach Salonica. 

At this stage another element exerted its influence. Servia 
awoke to the possibility of a Greater Servia. An Empire of 
the Slavs had long been dreamed of. In Austria-Hungary 
itself millions of Slavs were dreaming of it and awaiting the 
disruption of Austria-Hungary, held together now, as they 
argue, only by the indomitable will of the old Emperor, 
Franz Joseph. The hatred between the Slavs and the Teutonic 
Austrians is intense. The annexation by Austria of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, in which Servians predominate, increased 
the Servian hatred and the indignation of the whole Slav 
world to the point of violence. A conflict was avoided with 
difficulty. These principalities had hoped to form part of a 
Greater Servia. Had not Russia been exhausted by the war 
with Japan, Servia would have called upon her ally and the 
crisis would have come then. As it was, the Balkans teemed 
with plots and counterplots against the Austrians, culminating 
in the assassination of the Arch-Duke and heir-apparent to the 
Austrian throne, Francis Ferdinand, known for his anti-Slav 
principles, and therefore feared and hated as the king to be. 
The assassination occurred at Serajevo in Bosnia, where Serv- 
ian disaffection was seething. Austria immediately laid the 
crime on the Servian government. 

AUSTRIA DECLARES WAR 

Failing in her peremptory demands for satisfaction, Aus- 
tria declared war, July 28, 1914, apparently for revenge, but 
behind her righteous indignation she still held in view her 



22 CAUSES OF THE WAR 

traditional ambition, a port on the Mediterranean, to be se- 
cured by the complete control of the Novi Bazar route to 
Salonica, a route which, besides its commercial importance, 
is of tremendous strategic value to the nation which com- 
mands it. The treaty of Berlin of 1878, after the Russo- 
Turkish War, had given Austria the military, political, and 
commercial control of the route within the Sanjak of Novi 
Bazar, then a part of Turkey. 

But now, in the division of spoils following the Balkan 
Wars, Servia gained control of Novi Bazar, Pristina, Uskub, 
and Istip, or practically the entire route to a short distance 
north of Salonica, where the new boundaries of Greece had 
been extended. This meant that Austria saw herself shut out 
from the Sanjak, and only by the destruction and subsequent 
occupation of Servia could Austria regain her ascendancy 
over the route. Victory would mean a long step by Austria 
toward the sea. 

PLOTS AND COUNTERPLOTS 

The " balance of power" among European nations has 
hitherto been maintained because the formation of a single 
nation out of the Balkan States has not been possible. Al- 
though the people of these states have similar pursuits, and 
live much alike in all regions, they have preserved their orig- 
inal racial differences. A village of Albanians may be within 
a few miles of a village of Greeks. Yet through centuries 
both have remained racially distinct. Here and there the bar- 
riers have given way somewhat, but in general the races per- 
sist side by side, sometimes peaceably, more often in mutual 
distrust or open feud. Such division has been fostered by 
the great nations, and new states have been created, as re- 
cently Albania, since the formation of a great state in the 
Balkans by the union of all or the absorbing greatness of 
one, would overthrow the balance of power, and besides inter- 
pose an insurmountable obstacle between Austria and Russia, 
and the sea. 

Thus the states have been played against each other. 
Sometimes the game has been one of diplomacy, or one of 
force, hurling the states at each other's throats. Sometimes 



CAUSES OF THE WAR 23 

the game has been one of treachery and assassination. Who 
can surmise the intricate plots and counterplots, or the insidi- 
ous influences, the fostering of hatred, the failure of hopes and 
ambitions, that led to the assassination at Serajevo? 

RACE AND RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES 

Religious conditions in the Balkans are as complicated as 
racial relations. In Bulgaria, a branch of the Bulgarian race 
is Mohammedan, as are half a million Turks and col- 
onists of the Eastern lowlands. The Albanians are largely 
Mohammedan. The bulk of the population of the Balkans, 
however, professes the Greek Orthodox faith. Even more than 
the Mohammedan labors for the spread of Islam, all good 
Greek Catholics pray for the day when Constantinople, sacred 
city of their faith, shall be rescued from the infidel, and the 
cross shall again be raised over the mosque of St. Sophia. 
Along the western coast of the Balkan Peninsula Roman 
Catholics are numerous. 

On the one hand pride of religion and prejudice of race, 
on the other mountain barriers, harbors and sounds, hill pas- 
tures and lowland plains — these are the internal conditions 
that have shaped the history of the Balkan states. From with- 
out the intrigues and ambitions of the great nations of Eu- 
rope have played upon or profited by these conditions, and of 
all the complex interrelations the present war is the outcome, 
and Europe is aflame with a great conflagration. 

NATIONS HURRIED INTO WAR 

The continent resounds with the tread of millions of 
marching men, but we cannot fail to hear too the wailing and 
weeping of women and children. One by one the nations 
leaped to the struggle. Germany, striking at the heart of 
France, violated the neutrality of Belgium, and aroused her 
stubborn resistance. England, indignant at the violation of 
international treaties, gathered her war forces to support Bel- 
gium and her allies against the German advance, and the order 
went out, ' ' Seek the enemy, and destroy him. ' ' 

At the present writing, battles rage on the Russian and 
German frontiers. The roar of naval combat is heard in the 



24 CAUSES OF THE WAR 

North Sea. Little Servia, the cause of the mighty tumult, 
checks the advance of the Austrians. Italy, at first declar- 
ing her neutrality, thus breaking the Triple Alliance, watches 
her hereditary enemy, Austria, and is eager to avenge an- 
cient wrongs. The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, 
and Spain hold their forces in war order, to guard their in- 
tegrity. Everywhere the dark cloud of conflict spreads its 
terror and gloom over the land. Japan has taken the side 
of England and therefore that of Russia. Men, the pawns of 
royal intrigue, have been forced to march to the field of slaugh- 
ter, accompanied by memory of the weeping of their 
women and children, and the thought of the misery to fall 
upon them. A terrible toll of human life and human suffer- 
ing is being taken in the name of ' ' national honor, ' ' which is 
too often synonymous with the pride of kings or a selfish 
desire for commercial gain. 



BRITISH VIEW OF THE CASE 

Immediately after the general outbreak of hostilities each 
of the contending nations sought to lay the blame for the con- 
flagration upon the shoulders of some other. Thus the German 
blamed the Russian, France and England blamed Germany, 
Russia blamed Austria, and each nation, in official documents 
promptly given to the world, endeavored to justify its course 
of action. 

England's declaration of war followed the invasion of Bel- 
gium by German troops en route to France, and her action was 
upheld by the issuance of a " white book" in August, contain- 
ing copies of the diplomatic correspondence and " conversa- 
tions" that had passed between Sir Edward Grey, secretary 
of state for foreign affairs, and the chancelleries of Europe 
during the critical period immediately preceding the conflict. 

The British view of the immediate causes of war was sum- 
marized on September 12 by the Right Hon. Frederick Edwin 
Smith, K. C, M. P., organizer and director of the English 
official press bureau, in a statement as follows : 

"The British white book, embracing facts, not arguments, 
states our whole case. The neutrality of Belgium was violated 



CAUSES OF THE WAR 25 

by Germany, which, equally with France and England, had 
guaranteed it. This was done deliberately, without an atom 
of provocation. Hence our first and immediate occasion for 
going to war. Germany had no quarrel with Belgium, France 
or England, but made preparations to attack France through 
Luxemburg and Belgium and proposed to us that we stand 
aside and see Belgian neutrality violated and France crushed 
for no reason except to gratify German lust for power. 

ENGLAND FIGHTS FOE HER EXISTENCE 

"Belgium was invaded simply because it happened to bar 
the shortest road to Paris. Before Germany sent a man across 
the frontier it knew that if it violated Belgian neutrality Eng- 
land would enter the field. Even when it was evident to the 
whole of Europe that Germany had embarked on the enter- 
prise for which it had been preparing for years, France, the 
first object of attack, kept its troops some miles from the 
frontier and waited for the Germans to take the first step in a 
war of pure aggression. Germany took advantage of this 
reluctance and pushed forward immense masses of troops into 
Belgium and France. 

' ' We are fighting not only to fulfill our obligations to Bel- 
gium, but to preserve our own liberty and existence as a nation. 
Had Germany found us willing accomplices in her infamous 
scheme, had Belgium in the face of Germany's immense mili- 
tary power accepted the inevitable and made no resistance, 
France would or might be subdued. While we sat in disgrace- 
ful safety, the French colonies and fleet would be passed to the 
victors, who, established within thirty miles of the English 
coast, would possess with their allies a fleet and armies numer- 
ically larger than ours. Then when the time came for our 
downfall we should meet our fate without a friend in the world. 

1 ' Even in the short time since the breaking out of the war 
Germany has made it plain that its main object is the destruc- 
tion of the British army, fleet and empire. Within the last few 
days Germany has suggested to France that it might secure 
peace on easy terms if it would join Germany in subduing 
Great Britain. The instant response to that attempt was the 
conclusion of an arrangement between France, Russia and 



26 CAUSES OF THE WAR 

Great Britain binding themselves not to make terms with the 
enemy except by mutual agreement. 

"If any one doubts the statement that the real object of the 
war is the destruction of British power let him read the works 
of German leaders of thought, such as Reitschke and Bern- 
hardt These writers made no secret of their teachings or of 
the intentions of their country. But until the Kaiser gave the 
signal and moved his legions to attack Belgium, France and 
Eussia, only the most thoughtful and far-seeing Englishmen 
believed that Germany could seriously contemplate a crime so 
colossal simply to gratify an inordinate ambition. 

POINTS TO GREY^S ATTITUDE 

"Americans and other neutrals who take the trouble to 
read the white book must be driven to the conclusion that any 
statesman less patient than Sir Edward Grey and less deter- 
mined to spare no efforts to maintain peace at any but a dis- 
honorable price would have acceded to the request of the 
Russian prime minister and declared that Britain would sup- 
port Russia and France with all its resources should Austria 
and Germany persist in a course which must bring about a gen- 
eral conflagration. 

"So far from doing this, Sir Edward Grey told Herr Beth- 
mann-Hollweg that if the German government would make any 
reasonable proposals for the preservation of peace he would 
use his personal influence to persuade Russia and France to 
accept them, and if the powers refused 'the British govern- 
ment would have nothing more to do with the consequences.' 

"Germany's reply was to make a proposal, dishonoring to 
us, that we should stand aside while it invaded Belgium and 
crushed France, and then, when this offer was rejected with 
scorn, it moved its armies across the frontier. To-day the 
world is told that Germany was forced into war by rivals of 
her progress in the arts of peace. Seeking peace, we have been 
driven into war in defense of principles which, if they are no 
longer to be recognized, would make Europe a congeries of 
brigand nations recognizing might as the only right. 

"The justice of our cause has set the whole empire aflame 
with patriotism and raised in our great colonies and in India, 



CAUSES OF THE WAR 27 

with its 300,000,000 people of different races and languages, a 
unity and enthusiasm which will make our ultimate victory- 
assured. " 



A WAE FOR COMMERCIAL SUPREMACY — ENGLAND VS. GERMANY 

By Guglielmo Ferrero, the noted Italian Historian and 
Authority on Militarism. 

In this gigantic war the combatants are actuated by differ- 
ent motives and for different interests. Each is acting with 
different means of offense and defense : each, in a word, occu- 
pies a position peculiar to itself. 

Let us examine this important point : For what reason has 
England taken the field on the side of France ? 

In the speech he delivered in the house of commons on 
August 3, Sir Edward Grey clearly denned England's position 
among the belligerents. It was then still free from any obliga- 
tions. The French and English general staffs had for some 
time been working out the plans of the eventual military opera- 
tions that the two governments might have to carry out, if 
they should some day find themselves fighting side by side. 

Everything was ready for an offensive and defensive 
alliance ; but the two governments had not yet assumed recip- 
rocal obligations of any kind. 

On the evening of August 3, England could still declare 
itself neutral, and it would seem that Germany was still that 
very day trying to persuade it not to take up arms. 

For what reason did England declare war on Germany on 
the day following? 

The apparent reason was Belgium. On that very day the 
chancellor of the German empire announced in the Reichstag 
"that Germany would violate the neutrality of Belgium, be- 
cause he who is fighting cannot heed international law. " And 
the next day England sent to Germany the ultimatum: "Re- 
spect Belgium or go to war." 

BELGIUM THE PRETEXT 

But Belgium was the pretext for the war rather than the 
reason — the magnificent pretext offered by Germany to the 



28 CAUSES OF THE WAR 

party in England that for long had been wanting war. Eng- 
land also had guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium. By 
violating it Germany was affronting England, whose honor 
was now pledged to unsheathe the sword. 

In England friends of peace and partisans of war have 
been — and cannot fail to be — in agreement in recognizing that 
war was inevitable as soon as the German armies had crossed 
the Belgian frontier. 

But it is to be believed that, even if Germany had not impru- 
dently furnished England with that splendid pretext, England 
would have sought and found another. 

England's real eeason 

For a long time the Conservative party and a considerable 
section of the Liberal party of England had been agreed that 
if Germany should attack France, England must take the field 
with Russia in its defense in order to prevent Germany from 
further aggrandizement upon the continent and from becoming 
the arbiter of Europe. 

This is the real reason why England to-day stands side by 
side with France against Germany, just as a century ago it was 
directing the struggle against Napoleon. 

It is a most potent reason, for Germany has now reached a 
point in its history and development at which it might by fur- 
ther expansion become more dangerous to England than the 
Napoleonic empire was a century ago. 

Whosoever needs to be convinced of it has only to study the 
statistics of the production of iron, and there he will find the 
key to the Anglo-German conflict. 

England is the richer, but Germany has far the greater 
population. With some increase in territory upon the con- 
tinent and with its natural rapid growth this population might 
very soon be double that of England. So for England this war 
is a matter of life or death. 

IMPORTANCE OF IRON 

In a certain sense I should almost be tempted to say that 
the struggle between England and Germany is fiercer than that 



CAUSES OF THE WAR 29 

between Germany and France. Germany and France are 
enemies for historic and moral reasons. 

In the last ten years Germany has become, after the United 
States, the second metal working nation in the world. In 1912 
the United States manufactured about 30,000,000 tons of iron, 
Germany about 17,000,000, England 10,000,000. These figures 
explain everything, when we consider that iron is today the 
most important agency in world conquest. 

What can a people that produce so much iron do with it? 
What must it do with it? It is naturally impelled to manu- 
facture machinery, railroads, merchant vessels, ironclads, 
dreadnoughts. The development of the German merchant 
marine and the creation of the German war fleet, which have 
given such umbrage to England, were the natural effect of the 
rapid growth of German metallurgy. 

TEMPTATION TO EXPAND 

But when a people can construct so much machinery, so 
many railroads, so many cannon, so many ships of peace and 
war, and has not, like the United States, an immense con- 
tinent to populate with its railways, a people that lives crowded 
and crowded upon a small territory, will it not some day be 
tempted to make use of these arms and these materials in mak- 
ing room for itself in the world and in winning an empire to 
populate? 

Indeed England has perceived for some time that Germany, 
with its rich coal mines, its powerful metallurgy, its military 
traditions, its population that has now reached 65,000,000, 
might before long attempt to destroy the British empire and 
conquer, at least, part of it for itself if it should succeed in 
spreading out in Europe and in throwing down and weakening 
the continental rivals — France and Russia — which have ham- 
pered its movements. 

TWO DIFFERENT PRINCIPLES 

France represents, as it were, the qualitative principle; 
Germany the quantitative principle in modern civilization ; so, 
taking accoujit merely of interests, they might live prosper- 
ously side by side without suspecting each other or annoying 



30 



CAUSES OF THE WAR 



each other too much. But Germany and England could not; 
every excessive aggrandizement of the one is a menace and 
a peril for the other. 

Thus the war between England and Germany is absolutely 
different from that between France and Germany. One might 
almost call it a war of coal and iron, a mercantile conflict recall- 
ing the ancient struggles between Carthage and Syracuse, 
Genoa and Venice, but in colossal proportions and new forms. 

An immense revolution has taken place within a century in 
Europe and America. We have entered the great age of men, 
in which coal and iron are the most important instruments of 
power and wealth. And in the old world England and Ger- 
many are fighting between themselves for the primacy in coal 
and iron. 



r $!k 




THE CHIMES 

—Bradley in the Chicago Daily News. 



CHAPTER II 

HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

Ultimatum by Austria to Servia — War Declared by Austria — 
Russia Mobilizes — Germany Declares War on Russia 
August 1 — France and England Involved — Germans 
Enter Belgium — Scenes in European Capitals. 

ON SUNDAY, June 28, 1914, a Servian student named 
Prinzep shot and killed the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, 
heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary, and his morgan- 
atic wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, in the streets of Serajevo, 
a town in Bosnia which the royal couple were visiting. 

Nearly four weeks later, on July 23, the Austro-Hungarian 
government, fixing responsibility for the assassination upon 
Servian intrigues, presented to Servia a number of demands 
which formed a very drastic ultimatum, requiring compliance 
within forty-eight hours, with the alternative of war. Servia 
was required to condemn "the propaganda directed against 
Austria ' ' and to take proceedings against all accessories to the 
plot against the Archduke Francis Ferdinand who were in 
Servia. Austrian delegates were to supervise the proceedings, 
and Servia was also to arrest certain Servian officials whose 
guilt was alleged. These exorbitant conditions made it quite 
obvious that no concessions on Servia's part would be accepted. 
It was a plain prelude to war. 

Nevertheless, a virtual acceptance by Servia followed. 
Acting on the advice of Russia, Servia acceded to all that was 
required of her, making only two reservations of the most 
reasonable character. These reservations were found enough 
to serve as an excuse for war. Austria at once declared herself 
dissatisfied and though the actual declaration of war was 

31 



32 HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

delayed for a brief period, a state of war practically existed 
between the two countries from Saturday evening, July 25. 

EFFORTS TO LOCALIZE THE WAR 

Then began efforts on the part of Great Britain to localize 
the war. Sir Edward Grey, the able foreign secretary in Mr. 
Asquith's cabinet, repeated solemn warnings in every chan- 
cellery of Europe. According to the English "white book," 
the very day that he was notified of the violent tone of Aus- 
tria's note to Servia — the day it was presented — he warned 
the Austrian Ambassador in London that if as many as four of 
the Great Powers of Europe were to engage in war, it would 
involve the expenditure of such a vast sum of money and such 
interference with trade, that a complete collapse of European 
credit and industry would follow. The reply of Russia to this 
warning was quite conciliatory. The Russian foreign minister, 
M. Sazonoff, assured the British minister that Russia had no 
aggressive intentions, and would take no action unless forced. 
Austria's action, M. Sazonofr added, in reality aimed at over- 
throwing Russia 's influence in the Balkans. 

Thus, on Monday, July 27, Sir Edward Grey was able to 
state in the House of Commons that his suggestion of a joint 
conference, composed of the Ambassadors of Germany, France 
and Italy, and himself, with a view to mediation between Aus- 
tria and Russia, had been accepted by all except Germany, 
which power had expressed its concurrence with the plan in 
principle, but opposed the details on the ground that there was 
a prospect of direct " conversations" (diplomatic exchanges; 
between Austria and Russia. This statement was believed in 
England to lack sincerity. On that Monday afternoon the Rus- 
sian Ambassador at Vienna warned Austria that Russia would 
not give way and expressed his hope that some arrangement 
might be arrived at before Servia was invaded. 

Austria's reply came next day in the shape of a formal dec- 
laration of war against Servia. 

Germany's attitude pro-austrian 
On July 30 Sir M. de Bunsen, British Ambassador at 
Vienna, made the following statement to Sir Edward Grey 
regarding the attitude of Germany in the crisis ; 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 33 

"Although I am not able to verify it, I have private infor- 
mation that the German Ambassador (at Vienna) knew the 
text of the Austrian ultimatum to Servia before it was dis- 
patched, and telegraphed it to the German Emperor. I know 
from the German Ambassador himself that he endorses every 
line of it. ' ' 

Naturally enough the Russian foreign minister complained 
that ' ' conversations ' ' with Austria were useless in the face of 
such facts. Russia then declared that her forces would be 
mobilized the day that Austria crossed the Servian frontier. 
The attitude of Germany at once stiffened and it became evi- 
dent that Germany meant to regard even the partial mobiliza- 
tion of Russia as a ground for war, not only against Russia, 
but also against the latter 's ally, France. 

In vain Russia protested that her partial mobilization was 
merely a precaution. In vain did the Czar himself offer to give 
his word that no use would be made of any of his forces. Ger- 
many was aware, as subsequent facts have proved, that her 
own state of mobilization was very much further advanced 
than that of Russia. 

GERMAN ULTIMATUM TO RUSSIA 

By Friday, July 31, Germany was ready for the fray and 
a final ultimatum to St. Petersburg was launched. On the same 
day Russia declared war against Austria. By six o'clock on 
Saturday evening, August 1, war between Germany and Russia 
began, when Germany dismissed the Russian Ambassador, and 
by Sunday morning Germany was invading France. The next 
day, August 3, the German Ambassador left Paris and the 
French Ambassador at Berlin was ordered to demand his 
passports. 

At this point Great Britain passed from the position of 
general peacemaker to that of a principal. In the House of 
Commons on Monday, August 3, Sir Edward Grey stated that 
the question whether Austria or Russia should dominate the 
Southern Slav races was no concern of England, nor was she 
bound by any secret alliance to France. She was absolutely 
free to choose her course with regard to the crisis which had 
overtaken her. But there were two cardinal points in the situa- 



84 HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

tion which had arisen which ultimately concerned Great Brit- 
ain. The first essential feature of British diplomacy, said Sir 
Edward, was that France should not be brought into such a 
condition in Europe that she became a species of vassal state 
to Germany. On the morning of July 31, therefore, he had 
informed the German Ambassador that if the efforts to main- 
tain peace failed and France became involved Great Britain 
would be drawn into the conflict. 

In his speech of August 3 the British foreign minister also 
stated that he had given France on the previous day the writ- 
ten assurance that if the German fleet came into the English 
Channel or through the North Sea to assail her, the British 
fleet would protect her to the uttermost. 

TO PROTECT BELGIAN AUTONOMY 

On the same afternoon, in the same place, Sir Edward Grey 
reiterated the other dominant principle of British foreign pol- 
icy — that England can never look with indifference on the 
seizure by a great continental power of any portion of Belgium 
and Holland. More than a hundred years ago it was declared 
by Napoleon, who was a master of political geography, that 
Antwerp was ' ' a pistol leveled at the head of London. ' ' 

When on July 31 the British foreign minister inquired by 
telegraph both at Paris and Berlin whether the two govern- 
ments would engage to respect the neutrality of Belgium, 
France replied with an assurance that she was resolved to do 
so unless compelled to act otherwise by reason of the violation 
of Belgium's neutrality at the hands of another power. The 
German secretary of state, Herr von Jagow, replied that he 
could give no such assurance until he had consulted the Em- 
peror and Chancellor, and doubted whether he could give any 
answer without revealing the German plan of campaign. He 
furthermore alleged the commission of hostile acts by Belgium. 

Developments quickly followed. The German government 
proposed that Belgium should grant its armies free passage 
through Belgian territory. The proposal was accompanied by 
an intimation that Belgium would be crushed out of existence 
if it refused to comply. In fact, it was an ultimatum presented 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 35 

at 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, August 2, to expire within 
twelve hours. 

Then came Sir Edward Grey's speech in parliament on 
August 3, when it was fully realized that Germany and Eng- 
land were on the verge of war. What followed was related in 
the House of Commons next day. 

SCENES IN PARLIAMENT 

Germany's reply to the speech by Sir Edward Grey, the 
British foreign secretary, indicating the attitude of Great 
Britain in regard to the contemplated violation of Belgian 
territory by Germany was a second ultimatum from Berlin 
to Brussels, saying Germany was prepared to carry through 
her plans by force of arms if necessary. 

The British government was officially informed by Bel- 
gium on August 4 that German troops had invaded Belgium 
and that the violation of that country's neutrality, which the 
British foreign secretary had intimated must be followed by 
action on the part of the British, had become an accomplished 
fact. 

Definite announcement of Great Britain's intentions under 
these circumstances was expected in the house of commons 
that afternoon. 

TELEGRAM SENT TO BERLIN 

On the assembly of the house the premier, Mr. Asquith, 
said that a telegram had been sent early in the morning to 
Sir Edward Goschen, British ambassador in Berlin, to the 
following effect: 

"The king of the Belgians has appealed to His Britannic 
Majesty's government for diplomatic intervention on behalf 
of Belgium. The British government is also informed that 
the German government has delivered to the Belgian govern- 
ment a note proposing friendly neutrality pending a free 
passage of German troops through Belgium and promising 
to maintain the independence and integrity of the kingdom 
and its possessions on the conclusion of peace, threatening in 
case of refusal to treat Belgium as an enemy. ' ' 



36 HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign secretary, had re- 
quested an answer within twelve hours. 

Premier Asquith then read a telegram from the German 
foreign minister, which the German ambassador in London 
had sent to Sir Edward Grey. It was as follows : 

"Please dispel any distrust that may subsist on the part 
of the British government with regard to our intentions by 
repeating most positively the formal assurance that even in 
case of armed conflict with Belgium, Germany will under no 
pretensions whatever annex Belgian territory." 

The reading of this telegram was greeted with derisive 
laughter by the members of the house. 

Premier Asquith continued : 

"We understand that Belgium categorically refused to 
assent to a flagrant violation of the law of nations. 

"His majesty's government was bound to protest against 
this violation of a treaty to which Germany was a party in 
common with England and must request an assurance that 
the demand made upon Belgium by Germany be not proceeded 
with and that Belgium's neutrality be respected by Germany 
and we have asked for an immediate reply. 

"We received this morning from our minister in Brussels 
the following telegram: 

" 'The German minister has this morning addressed a 
note to the Belgian minister for foreign affairs stating that as 
the Belgian government has declined a well intentioned pro- 
posal submitted to it by the imperial German government 
the latter, deeply to its regret, will be compelled to carry out, 
if necessary by force of arms, the measures considered indis- 
pensable in view of the French menace.' " 

ENGLAND AND GERMANY AT WAR 

By 11 o'clock that evening England and Germany were at 
war. Their respective ambassadors were handed their pass- 
ports and Great Britain braced herself for a conflict that was 
felt to theaten her very existence as a nation. 

In defence of the violation of Belgian neutrality by the 
invasion of the little state, the Kaiser's government claimed to 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 37 

have received authentic news that France meant to attack 
Germany through this neutral territory. But in the Reichstag 
on August 4 the German Chancellor, Von Bethmann-Hollweg, 
said: 

"Gentlemen, we are now in a state of necessity, and neces- 
sity knows no law! Our troops have occupied Luxemburg 
[an independent state] and are already on Belgian soil. Gen- 
tlemen, that is contrary to the dictates of international law. 
It is true that the French Government has declared at Brus- 
sels that France is willing to respect the neutrality of Belgium 
as long as her opponent respects it. We knew, however, that 
France stood ready for the invasion. France could wait, but 
we could not wait. A French movement upon our flank upon 
the lower Rhine might have been disastrous. So we were com- 
pelled to override the protest of the Luxemburg and Belgian 
governments. The wrong — I speak openly — that we are com- 
mitting we will endeavor to make good as soon as our military 
goal has been reached. Anybody who is threatened, as we are 
threatened, and is fighting for his highest possessions, can have 
only one thought — how he is to hack his way through. ' ' 



GERMAN VERSION" OF EVENTS IMMEDIATELY PEECEDING WAR WITH 

FRANCE AND RUSSIA 

In an official "white book" issued by the German govern- 
ment, on August 4, a few hours prior to the entrance of Eng- 
land into the arena, responsibility for the war in which Ger- 
many, Russia and France had engaged was placed squarely 
upon the shoulders of the Czar. 

While negotiations looking to a peaceful way out of the 
difficulties were pending, Russia, it was charged, invaded 
Germany, and a few hours later France opened hostilities. 

The German Emperor, it was set forth, in response to a 
suggestion from London and the appeal of the Russian mon- 
arch, was using his influence at Vienna to satisfy Russia 
regarding the intention of Austria in Servia, but in that very 
hour Russia was mobilizing her army. 

After a fruitless appeal to Emperor Nicholas to abandon 
his warlike preparations and so avert a peril to civilization, 



38 HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

the German government on the afternoon of July 31 instructed 
its ambassador at St. Petersburg to give notice that Germany 
would mobilize unless Russia suspended her military measures 
inside of twelve hours. 

At the same time France was given eighteen hours in which 
to declare whether she would remain neutral in a war between 
Russia and Germany. The white book continued as follows : 

"The imperial ambassador in St. Petersburg made the 
communication intrusted to him to M. Sazonoff (the Russian 
minister of foreign affairs) at midnight on July 31. After 
the term set for Russia had expired without the receipt of an 
answer to our question, his majesty the emperor at 5 p. m. on 
August 1, ordered the mobilization of the whole German army 
and the imperial navy. 

"The imperial ambassador in St. Petersburg had mean- 
while received a commission to communicate to the Russian 
government a declaration of war in the event that the Russian 
government should not give a satisfactory answer within the 
period allotted it. But before a report of the execution of this 
commission had arrived Russian troops crossed our frontier 
on the afternoon of August 1 and advanced on German ter- 
ritory. From this time on Russia has furthered the war 
against us. 

"In the meantime the imperial ambassador in Paris had 
placed the inquiry with which he was commissioned before the 
French cabinet at 7 p. m. on July 31. On August 1, at 1 o 'clock 
in the afternoon, the French prime minister communicated an 
ambiguous and unsatisfactory answer, which gave no clear 
idea regarding the attitude of France, as the author confined 
himself to declaring that France would do what her interests 
bade her to do. 

"A few hours later, at 5 p. m., the mobilization of the entire 
French army and navy was ordered. On the morning of the 
next day France opened hostilities." 

TELEGEAMS EXCHANGED 

On July 31 the Russian Emperor sent the following tele- 
gram to the German Emperor : 

"I thank thee from my heart for thy mediation, which 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 39 

leaves a gleam of hope that even now all may end peacefully. 
It is technically impossible to discontinue our military opera- 
tion, which has been rendered necessary by Austrian mobiliza- 
tion. We are far from wishing for war, and so long as nego- 
tiations with Austria regarding Servia continue, my troops 
will not undertake any provocative action. 

' ' I give thee my word upon it and I trust with my strength 
in God's grace and hope for the success of thy mediation at 
Vienna and for our countries ' and the peace of Europe. 

( Signed) ' ' Thy Devoted Nicholas. ' ' 

THE KAISER^ REPLY 

To this the German Emperor replied : 

■ ' In answer to thy appeal to my friendship and thy prayer 
for my help, I undertook mediatory action between the Austro- 
Hungarian government and thine. While this action was in 
progress, thy troops were mobilized against my ally, Austria- 
Hungary, in consequence of which, as I have already informed 
thee, my mediation was rendered nearly illusory. Neverthe- 
less, it is continued. But now I am in possession of trustworthy 
advices concerning the serious war preparations on my east- 
ern frontier, as well. 

"My responsibility for the safety of my empire compels 
me to counter-measures of defense. In my endeavors for 
the maintenance of the peace of the world I have gone to the 
extreme limit of the possible. It is not I that shall bear the 
responsibility for the peril which now threatens the civilized 
world. I lay it to thy hand to avert it, even at this moment. 

"No one menaces the honor and might of Russia, which all 
could have waited upon the result of my mediation. The 
friendship for thee and thy empire bequeathed to me by my 
grandfather on his deathbed has always been sacred to me, 
and I have remained true to Russia when it was in grave dis- 
tress, especially in your last war. The peace of Europe can 
yet be conserved by thee if Russia decides to discontinue her 
military measures, which threaten Germany and Austria- 
Hungary. 

(Signed) "William." 



40 HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

THE RUSSIAN VIEW 

At St. Petersburg on August 4 Emperor Nicholas issued 
a manifesto in which he outlined the events leading up to the 
declaration of war by Germany, and then said that "Russians 
will rise like one man and repulse the insolent attack of the 
enemy. ' ' 

The text of the manifesto follows : 

"By the grace of God, we, Nicholas II., emperor and auto- 
crat of all the Russias, king of Poland and grand duke of 
Finland, etc., to all our faithful subjects make known that 
Russia, related by faith and blood to the Slav peoples and 
faithful to her historical traditions, has never regarded her 
fates with indifference. 

"But the fraternal sentiments of the Russian people for 
the Slavs have been awakened with perfect unanimity and 
extraordinary force in these last few days when Austria-Hun- 
gary knowingly addressed to Servia claims inacceptable for 
an independent state. 

"Having paid no attention to the pacific and conciliatory 
reply of the Servian government and having rejected the 
benevolent intervention of Russia, Austria-Hungary made 
haste to proceed to an armed attack and began to bombard 
Belgrade, an open place. 

"Forced by the situation thus created to take necessary 
measures of precaution, we ordered the army and the navy put 
on war footing, at the same time using every endeavor to 
obtain a peaceful solution. 

"Pourparlers were begun amid friendly relations with 
Germany and her ally, Austria, for the blood and the property 
of our subjects were dear to us. 

"Contrary to our hopes in our good neighborly relations 
of long date, and disregarding our assurances that the mobili- 
zation measures taken were in pursuance of no object hostile 
to her, Germany demanded their immediate cessation. Being- 
rebuffed in this demand, Germany suddenly declared war on 
Russia. 

"Today it is not only the protection of a country related 
to us and unjustly attacked that must be accorded, but we 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 41 

must safeguard the honor, the dignity and the integrity of 
Russia, and her position among the great powers. 

"We believe unshakably that all our faithful subjects will 
rise with unanimity and devotion for the defense of Russian 
soil ; that internal discord will be forgotten in this threatening 
hour ; that the unity of the emperor with his people will become 
still more close and that Russia, rising like one man, will 
repulse the insolent attack of the enemy. 

' ' With a profound faith in the justice of our work and with 
a humble hope in omnipotent providence, in prayer we call 
God's blessing on holy Russia and her valiant troops. 

(Signed) " Nicholas/ ' 



GEBMAN CHANCELLOR MAKES ADDRESS 

The German Imperial Chancellor, Dr. von Bethmann- 
Hollweg, on August 1 addressed a great procession of demon- 
strators from the window of his official residence in Berlin, 
making a stirring speech. He said : 

"At this serious hour, in order to give expression to your 
feeling for your fatherland, you have come to the house of 
Bismarck, who, with Emperor William the Great and Field 
Marshal von Moltke, welded the German empire for us. 

"We wished to go on living in peace in the empire which 
we have developed in forty-four years of peaceful labor. 

1 ' The whole work of Emperor William has been devoted to 
the maintenance of peace. To the last hour he has worked for 
peace in Europe and he is still working for it. 

"Should all his efforts prove vain and should the sword 
be forced into our hands we will take the field with a clear 
conscience in the knowledge that we did not seek war. We 
shall then wage war for our existence and for the national 
honor to the last drop of our blood. 

"In the gravity of the hour I remind you of the words of 
Prince Frederick Charles to the men of Brandenburg: 'Let 
your hearts beat for God and your fists on the enemy. ' ' ' 

Enthusiastic cheers and the singing of the national anthem 
greeted the close of the imperial chancellor's speech. 




BESET 



— San Francisco Chronicle. 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 43 

PROCLAMATION BY THE KAISER 

A proclamation by Emperor William addressed to the 
German nation was published in the Official Gazette, August 7. 
The text was as follows : 

" Since the foundation of the German empire, it has been 
for forty- three years the object of the efforts of myself and 
my ancestors to preserve the peace of the world and to advance 
by peaceful means vigorous development. 

"Our adversaries, however, are jealous of the successes 
of our work and there has been latent hostility to the east and 
to the west and beyond the sea. 

"This has been borne by us till now, as we were aware of 
our responsibility and our power. 

"Now, however, these adversaries wish to humiliate us, 
asking that we should look on with folded arms and watch 
our enemies preparing themselves for the coming attack. 

' ' They will not suffer that we maintain our resolute fidelity 
to our ally, who is fighting for her position as a great power 
and with whose humiliation our power and honor would equally 
be lost. 

"So the sword must decide. 

"In the midst of perfect peace the enemy surprises us. 
Therefore, to arms ! 

"Any dallying and temporizing would be to betray the 
fatherland. 

"To be or not to be, is the question for the empire which 
our fathers founded. To be or not to be, is the question for 
German power and German existence. 

1 ' We shall resist to the last breath of man and horse, and 
we shall fight out the struggle even against a world of enemies. 

"Never has Germany been subdued when she was united. 

"Forward, with God, who will be with us as he was with 
our ancestors." 

ADDRESS BY CZAR NICHOLAS 

The Eussian Emperor with Grand Duke Nicholas on Au- 
gust 8 received the members of the council of the empire and 
the duma (the Russian parliament) in audience at the Winter 
Palace, St. Petersburg. Addressing them, the Emperor said : 



44 HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 

"In these days of alarm and anxiety, through which Russia 
is passing, I greet you! Germany, following Austria, has 
declared war on Russia. 

"The enormous enthusiasm, the patriotic sentiments and 
the love and loyalty to the throne — an enthusiasm which has 
swept like a hurricane through the country — guarantee for me, 
as for you, I hope, that Russia will bring to a happy conclusion 
the war which the Almighty has sent it. 

" It is also because of this unanimous enthusiasm, love and 
eagerness to make every sacrifice, even of life itself, that I am 
able to regard the future with calm firmness. It is not only 
the dignity and honor of our country that we are defending, 
but we are fighting for brother Slavs, coreligionists, blood 
brothers. I see also with joy the union of the Slavs with Russia 
progressing strongly and indissolubly. 

"I am persuaded that all and each of you will be in your 
place to assist me to support the test and that all, beginning 
with myself, will do their duty. Great is the God of the Rus- 
sian fatherland. ' ' 

KING ALBEET TO THE BELGIANS 

On the outbreak of hostilities in Belgium King Albert 
addressed a note to the Belgian army as follows : 

"A neighbor, haughty in its strength, without the slightest 
provocation, has torn up the treaty bearing its signature and 
has violated the territory of our fathers because we refused 
to forfeit our honor. It has attacked us. Seeing its inde- 
pendence threatened, the nation trembled and its children 
sprang to the frontier, valiant soldiers in a sacred cause. I 
have confidence in your tenacious courage. I greet you in the 
name of Belgium, a fellow-citizen who is proud of you. ' ' 



CAPITALS BLAZE WITH MARTIAL FEVER 

There were scenes of patriotic fervor and martial ardor 
during the first few days of August in all the European capi- 
tals directly affected by the war. In London, Berlin, Paris, 
St. Petersburg and Vienna enthusiastic crowds filled the 
streets, singing national hymns and cheering their respective 
rulers and popular heroes. 



HOW WAR WAS DECLARED 45 

Only here and there were thoughtful heads bowed in sor- 
rowful anticipation of coming woe. The residents of the capi- 
tals heard only the cheerful sounds of drum and fife. Not yet 
were their ears assailed by the groans of the wounded and the 
dying, the roar of the deadly siege gun and the infernal rattle 
of rifle fire, the shriek of shrapnel and the awful scream of the 
stricken horse. Not yet had the mournful procession of the 
myriads of maimed and shattered soldiers begun to wend its 
slow and painful way back from the front. Not yet had the 
tears of half a million widows and countless orphans begun to 
flow. Not yet had sack and outrage, lance and bayonet, torch 
and dynamite, begun to do their gruesome work among the 
homes of innocent peasants and defenseless townspeople. Not 
yet had the awful modern engines of destruction begun their 
task of " scientific" killing; nor had the uniformed cohorts of 
civilization fastened their grip upon each other's throats, to 
sate the world with slaughter. 

But all this, and more, was soon to come. The "war of the 
ages" had been launched and the cheering capitals of Europe 
were soon to be filled with the insignia of mourning, as the 
unknowing, unthinking victims of " national honor" began to 
fall by thousands on the battlefield, until the terrible total of 
Death's harvest had surpassed all the records of history and 
sorrow and suffering reigned supreme. 

Truly, "War is Hell — and the workers of the world roast 
in its fires." 




FELLOW- WORKERS 



— San Francisco Chronlcl*. 



CHAPTER III 

ARMED FORCES INVOLVED 

Strength of the Opposing Armies and Fleets — Millions of 
Men Under Arms — Attitude of Italy, Turkey and 
Greece — Organization of An Army — Heavy Artillery 
Used in the War. 

The Aemies of Europe 

Unorganized, 

Pnnntrv Peace Reserves Total War But 

wuntry Strength KeserTes strength available 

For Duty 

*Great Britain . .. 254,500 476,000 730,000 2,000,000 

Germany 870,000 4,430,000 5,200,000 1,000,000 

"France 720,000 3,280,000 4,000,000 1,000,000 

Austria-Hungary 390,000 1,610,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 

Russia 1,290,000 3,300,000 5,500,000 5,200,000 

Italy 250,000 950,000 1,200,000 1,200,000 

Belgium 42,000 180,000 222,000 400,000 

"Netherlands 35,000 145,000 180,000 150,000 

Denmark 14,000 56,000 70,000 125,000 

Sweden 50,000 400,000 450,000 200,000 

Norway 35,000 80,000 115,000 100,000 

Bulgaria 60,500 320,000 380,000 100,000 

Servia 32,000 208,000 240,000 60,000 

Rumania 95,000 100,000 500,000 175,000 

Switzerland 22,300 252,000 275,000 50,000 

Turkey 400,000 300,000 700,000 2,000,000 

* In the case of Great Britain, "Peace strength" excludes the native Indian 
army of 175,000. 

In the case of Trance, "Peace strength" includes colonial troops. 

In the case of Netherlands, ' ' Peace strength ' ' is exclusive of the colonial army 
of 36,000. 

The Navies of Europe 

Country jj fg g| || § | | || j gg 

Great Britain 29 10 38 42 70 227 58 85 137,500 

Germany 19 7 20 9 45 141 47 30 66,783 

France 17 15 18 13 87 173 90 60,621 

Russia 9 4 8 6 9 105 23 48 52,463 

Italy 8 8 7 13 35 73 20 33,095 

Austria-Hungary 4 9 3 9 18 53 15 17,581 

Sweden 1 8 51 7 5,715 

Netherlands 6 11 8 33 8 11,164 

Norway 1 4 3 26 o 1,003 

Denmark 1 1 15 3 4,000 

47 



48 ARMED FORCES INVOLVED 

viyirizy millions rs~ the field 
It will be seen by a perusal of the foregoing table that the 
force b : the nations actually engaged in the war in Europe 
had a total war strength at the outbreak of hostilities of 1S.226,- 
Mfl men of all arms. 

To e number must be added the addi- 

tional troops raif treat Britain and bringing up her 

total am men. The number of these was 

. -till further increased by about - W native 
troops from India and 50,000 from Canada, Australia and New 
ukL This brings I grand total of forces involved to 
19,1-: -~ men, inch] _ I all of whom were called 

ont anti. ast line" of each of the warring nations was 

under arms. 

add the war strength of other nations 

that partially mobilized in August. 1914. for self -defense and 

the preservation of their neutrality, including the Netherlands, 

Switzerland. I - ria and Bonmania. to say nothing of Italy, 

Bnavian countries and the large and effec- 

: Japan, we arrive at the enormous aggregate of 

- - d called to the colors in this European 

conflict — as* gg - i:-h dwarf s all previous records 

of war. 

In the enumeration, too, it is probable that the war strength 
of the le: '. _ mil - - is underestimated. Thus it 

of only ' . ."•00 men, Germany was 
prepared to place under arms a total of nearly //>. For 

- at a time, along the far-flung battle lines i the French 
border, arm. .. - a -- than 3,000,000 men have 

been eonfrc: _ w hile other millions have been 

engaged in Eastern Prussia and Galicia. 

IT.-.l" BEMAUTE HEDTBAL 

7 ttitn le :' II - a subject of international curios- 

: of war. but the Italian government soon 

made it plain t. policy was one of absolute neutrality. 

uite of the fac: thai Italy was a member of the Triple 

Alliance, her king and sfl - : uen claimed that neither of her 

allies, Gem: I Austr: - stacked by a foreign 



ARMED FORCES INVOLVED 49 

power, and that therefore, by the terms of the Triple Alliance, 
she was not obligated to take np arms on their behalf. There 
were besides two other good reasons for Italy's nentr aiity 
On the one hand she had enjoyed long friendship wit 
Britain, and felt nnder obligation for E:._ i rapport in 
obtaining Italian unity: and on the other hand the masses : 
the Italians were strongly opposed to i _ aid and comfort 

to Austro-Hungary the circnmstan: ~ r. 

Italian neutrality has therefore been maintained np to I 
present writing, and her army, with a total war strengl 
'... . "',000, although partially mobilized as a matter of precau- 
tion, has been kept out of the conflict >:::.:. us efforts 
ever, have been made to drag Italy intc the . (he 

German-Austrian si le, in I it was reported in Paris on S 
tember 17 that the German Kaiser had sent a telegTam to I 
Victor Emmanuel reading as follows : 

"Conqueror or conquered. I shall never forget your 
treason." 

The neutral attitude of their King, 1 j believed t 

have had the practically una ni mous support : U Italian 
people. 

For some time early in - - mber it was believeii that 
Turkey would join in the war on the ; : ' 7 

German war vessels in the Mediterranean sough: refog 
the Dardanelles and were report* 1 sol 1 to Turkey inci- 

dent created considerable interest and Greece was - :o be 
preparing for war against Turkey in se i latt 
the conflict, but when the Franco- P ritis troops - o led in 
turning back the German advance on Pari-. - Turkish g 
eminent apparently concluded that nserel was the hett 
part of valor and continued to maintain neutrality. 



HGABTBAXIDH BF AS A] 

Military service is compulsory in all the nations no^ t 
war, except in Great Britai: the s y stem is one of volun- 

tary enlistment. Besides its i _ liar army almost eve: gi ..: 
nation has one. two or three reserves. In time e the 

regular armies are kept on a reduced or peace footing'. When 
war threatens they are enlarg their war fooling 



50 ARMED FORCES INVOLVED 

creasing them to full strength, either by additional men drawn 
from the reserves or by recruiting, and by organizing, equip- 
ping and supplying them for active operations in the field. 
This process is known as "mobilization." 

There are two kinds of troops, namely, mobile and fixed, the 
latter being stationed in fortifications. The mobile troops are 
also of two kinds — those of the line, that is, the fighting men, 
including infantry, cavalry and artillery ; and those of the staff. 

Broadly speaking an army is organized for war as follows : 

INFANTRY 

A squad is 8 men under the command of a corporal. 

A section is 16 men under the command of a sergeant. 

A platoon is from 50 to 75 men under a lieutenant. 

A company is 3 platoons, 200 to 250 men, under a captain. 

A battalion is 4 or more companies under a major. 

A regiment is 3 or more battalions under a colonel, or a 
lieutenant-colonel. 

A brigade is 2 or 3 regiments under a brigadier-general. 

A division is 2 or more brigades under a major-general. 

An army corps is 2 or more brigades or divisions, supple- 
mented by cavalry, artillery, engineers, etc., under a major- 
general or lieutenant-general. 

CAVALRY 

A section is 8 men under a corporal. 

A platoon is 36 to 50 men under a lieutenant or junior 
captain. 

A troop is 3 to 4 platoons under a senior captain, or a major. 

A regiment is 4 to 6 squadrons under a colonel. 

A brigade is 3 regiments under a brigadier-general. 

A division is 2 or 3 brigades under a major-general. 

ARTILLERY 

A battery is 130 to 180 men, with 4 to 6 guns (8 in the Rus- 
sian army), under a captain. 

A group or battalion is 3 to 4 batteries under a major. 
A regiment is 3 to 4 groups (battalions) under a colonel. 

ARTILLERY USED IN THE WAR 

The awful destruction wrought by modern artillery has 
been one of the features of the war ; in fact, it may almost be 



ARMED FORCES INVOLVED 51 

said to have been a war of artillery. Hence, a brief description 
of some of the guns used is given below. 

Howitzers of calibers larger than 4.7 inches and mortars 
are limited to siege purposes only, as their weight renders them 
impractical for field uses. Being of large caliber, they fire a 
heavier projectile at a low muzzle velocity and at a great angle 
of elevation, which enables them to drop the shell behind 
breastworks or parapets of open gun emplacements of modern 
forts on a line of arc more nearly perpendicular than would 
be possible by guns of high muzzle velocity. The trajectory of 
the latter is too flat for any given effective range to attain the 
above results, the projectile striking the parapet or passing 
clear over it. 

However, in fortifications of the first class, such as encircle 
Paris, heavy naval batteries are mounted, with an effective 
range of over twelve miles, and the city must be invested first 
before such cumbersome guns as mortars can be brought up 
and placed in position. As their range is less than that of the 
naval guns, it is quite evident that their mounting within the 
range of fire from the forts is a most critical, if not impossible, 
task, especially so when special roads have to be provided for 
their transportation across the terrain to the emplacements, 
which, in turn, require special concrete or other equally suit- 
able foundations, with casemates, etc., before the piece can be 
put into action. 

LIEGE NOT A CRITERION 

Experiences with fortresses of the second class, like Liege 
and Namur, cannot be considered satisfactory evidence as to 
the importance or destructive efficiency of the new weapons. 
Liege held out longer than the most skeptical critics expected 
it would, while at Namur the Germans succeeded only in en- 
trenching them within effective range, under cover of a dense 
fog. 

At Antwerp, however, they were proved efficient against 
British naval guns, brought from the Woolwich arsenal to take 
the place of Krupp pieces, contracted for with this firm and 
whose reasons for defaulting on their contract are too obvious 
by now to call for further comments. The efficiency of such a 



52 ARMED FORCES INVOLVED 

mortar consists mainly of delivering a heavy charge of ex- 
plosive on a certain target, at a medium range, and here is 
where the rub is, just as in the case of the American dynamite 
cruiser Vesuvius, which was a complete failure, because it could 
not penetrate the range of high power naval guns to plant its 
charge. It is also quite evident by now that the issue of this 
war is being decided in the open field and not behind French 
fortified cities, consequently the Krupp mortar may be min- 
imized by every one but the Germans before the end of this 
conflict. 

FRENCH HAVE ADVANTAGE 

In the field artillery the French have a most decided ad- 
vantage over the Germans, in a heavier projectile, a higher 
velocity and, consequently, a greater range. The rate of fire 
a minute is almost double that of the German gun. But the 
most important advantage on the French side is the ' ' mechani- 
cal" timing of the bursting of the projectile instead of the 
fuse timing, as used in every other army. This has been a pro- 
found secret until this war began, and the terrible destructive- 
ness of the piece is principally due to this never erring in- 
genious device. 

As in rifle fire, where only the hits count, so in artillery fire 
it is the bursts of the projectiles at the exact range that count. 
With the fuse timer a variation of fifty yards is pretty close 
fire, and seldom attained, while with the mechanical timer a 
maximum variation of less than two yards was obtained in 
500 rounds of fire, with ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 yards — 
while the vertical variations were less than 12 inches in the 
same number of rounds, without requiring any corrections in 
the laying (pointing) of the piece. The greatest execution is 
obtained by accurately timing the burst of projectiles "on 
graze, ' ' just passing over the skirmishers ' cover or trenches, 
and, as an exploding projectile scatters 260 lead balls or shrap- 
nel, each of which is effective enough to kill a man if it hits 
him, a fair idea can be had as to the destructiveness of these 
weapons. The bursting charge is called melinite, an explosive 
composition wiiose intensity of force is surpassed only by that 
of nitroglycerin. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Rulers and Heirs Apparent of Countries Engaged — Areas 
and Populations — Their Exports and Imports, Prin- 
cipal Cities, Etc. — Europe's Map Often Changed — The 
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 — Japan Enters the 
War. 



R 



ULERS of the principal countries engaged in the great 
war of 1914, with the latest statistics of their area, pop- 
ulation, exports and imports, are as follows : 



GREAT BRITAIN 



Government — King, George V.; heir-apparent, Edward 
Albert, prince of Wales. 

Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury — H. H. 
Asquith. 

Secretary of War — Earl Kitchener. 

The British parliament, in which the highest legislative 
authority is vested, consists of the house of lords and the 
house of commons. The former in 1913 had 636 members 
and the latter 670. The sessions usually last from Febru- 
ary to August. 

Area and Population — The total area of England, Scot- 
land, Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands 
is 121,391 square miles ; the total for the British Empire is 11,- 
498,825 square miles. The total population of the empire in 
1911 was 421,178,965. The population of the United Kingdom 
April 3, 1911, when the last census was taken, was : England, 
34,045,290; Wales, 2,025,202; Scotland, 4,759,445; Ireland, 
4,390,219 ; Isle of Man, 52,034 ; Channel Islands, 96,900. Total, 
45,369,090. 

The population of the inner or registration district of the 
city of London was 4,522,961 in 1911. Including the outer belt 

53 



54 THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of suburban towns, which are within the metropolitan police 
district, the population of "Greater London" April 3, 1911, 
was 7,251,358. 

Exports and Imports — The total exports of the British 
Empire in 1912 were $5,745,542,500 ; of the United Kingdom, 
$2,996,339,000; total imports of the empire, $6,528,065,000; of 
the United Kingdom, $3,724,482,000. 

The total exports of the United Kingdom to the United 
States in 1913 were $295,564,940; imports, $597,150,307. 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

Government. — Emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, 
Francis Joseph I; heir apparent, Archduke Charles Francis 
Joseph. 

The empire of Austria and the kingdom of Hungary are 
sovereign states, each with its own constitution, legislative 
bodies and systems of administration, co-ordinate in rank 
and mutually independent within the domain of home affairs. 
Foreign representation (embassies and consulates), the army 
and navy, customs (import and export duties), and the ad- 
ministration of the annexed provinces (Bosnia and Herze- 
govina) are, however, conducted in common. Legislation on 
matters affecting the interests of the dual monarchy as a 
whole is intrusted to the delegations — two bodies of sixty 
members each, chosen from among members of the two legis- 
lative chambers of Austria and Hungary respectively. 

Area and Population. — Area of Austria, 115,903 square 
miles ; of Hungary, 125,395 square miles. The population of 
Austria in 1910 was 28,324,940. The population of Hungary 
in 1910 was 20,886,787. Total population for both countries 
in 1910 was 49,211,727. 

Imports and Exports. — The value of the imports into the 
Austro-Hungarian customs territory in 1912 was $722,030,000 ; 
exports, $554,973,000. Chief imports are cotton, coal, wool, 
maize, tobacco, coffee and wines; principal exports, lumber 
and wool manufactures, sugar, eggs, barley, lignite, malt, 
leather, gloves and shoes. Imports from the United States 
in 1913, $23,320,690; exports to United States, $19,192,414. 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 55 

GERMANY 

Government. — Emperor and king of Prussia, Wilhelm 
II.; heir-apparent, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. Cabinet offi- 
cers: 

Imperial Chancellor. — Dr. Theobald von Bethmann- 
Hollweg. 

Foreign Affairs. — Herr Gottlieb von Jagow. 

The Prussian minister of war, Gen. Josias 0. 0. von 
Heeringen, while nominally having jurisdiction over Prus- 
sian army affairs only, represents the imperial government 
in the reichstag in military matters and is, for all practical 
purposes, German secretary for war. Of the various inde- 
pendent states of Germany only the kingdoms of Prussia, 
Saxony, Bavaria and Wurttemberg have their own ministers 
of war. 

Legislative authority is vested in a bundesrath, or senate, 
of 61 members, and a reichstag, or house, of 397 members. 
The latter are elected for five year terms on a popular fran- 
chise and the senators are appointed from the state govern- 
ments for each session. 

Area and Population. — The area of the states in the 
empire is 208,780 square miles; area of dependencies about 
1,027,820 square miles; grand total, 1,236,600 square miles. 

The last federal census was taken Dec. 1, 1910. Accord- 
ing to this the population of the empire was 64,925,993. The 
estimated population of the foreign dependencies is 13,946,200. 

Exports and Imports. — Total exports (1912), $2,115,- 
482,000; total imports, $2,449,517,000. 

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913, Germany ex- 
ported $188,963,071 worth of merchandise to the United 
States and imported merchandise valued at $331,684,212. 

RUSSIA 

Government — Czar, Nicholas II.; heir-apparent, Grand 
Duke Alexis. 

Premier and Minister of Finance — F. Kokovtseff. 
Foreign Affairs — M. Sazonoff. 



56 THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Legislative authority is vested in the czar, duma and coun- 
cil of the empire. 

Area and Population — Area, 8,764,586 square miles. 
Total population in 1911, 167,003,400. 

Imports and Exports — The total value of the imports in 
1911 was $598,266,000; of the exports, $819,577,000. The ex- 
ports to the United States in 1913 amounted in value to $26,- 
958,690; imports from the United States, $25,363,795. The 
chief exports are foodstuffs, timber, oil, furs and flax; im- 
ports, raw cotton, wool, metals, leather, hides, skins and 
machinery. 

SERVEA 

Government — King, Peter I. (Karageorgevitch) ; heir- 
apparent, Prince Alexander (second son). Legislative au- 
thority is vested in a single chamber, called ' ' skupshtina, ' ' of 
3 60 elected members. 

Area and Population — Area, about 37,600 square miles. 
Population in 1910, 2,911,701 ; now about 4,550,000. The cap- 
ital, Belgrade, has 90,890 inhabitants. 

Exports and Imports — Total value of exports in 1911, 
$22,565,000; imports, $22,277,000. Exports to the United 
States in 1913, $694,393; imports, $7,616. The exports are 
mainly agricultural products and animals and the imports 
cotton and woolen goods and metals. 

BELGIUM 

Government. — King, Albert I. 

The legislative power is vested in the king, senate and 
chamber of representatives. The senate has 120 members 
and the chamber 186, or one for every 40,000 inhabitants. 

Area and Population. — Total area, 11,373 square miles. 
Total population, 1910, 7,423,784; estimated population, 1911, 
7,490,411. Population of the largest cities December 31, 
1911: 

Antwerp 308,618 Liege 167,676 

Brussels (capital) . 646,400 Ghent 166,719 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 57 

Imports and Exports. — The imports in 1912 amounted to 
$899,722,000 and the exports to $753,001,000. The trade with 
the United States in 1913 was : Imports, $66,845,462 ; exports, 
$41,941,014. Chief imports are cereals, textiles and metal 
goods ; chief exports, cereals, raw textiles, tissues, iron, glass, 
hides, chemicals and machinery. 

FRANCE 

Government. — President, Raymond Poincare; term ex- 
pires 1920. 

Legislative authority is vested in the chamber of deputies 
and the senate. The former has 597 members, each of whom 
is elected for four years. The senate has 300 members elected 
for nine years. The presidential term is seven years. 

Area and Population. — France has a total area of 207,054 
square miles. The area of the French colonies and depend- 
encies throughout the world is 4,367,746 square miles. Total 
population (1911) of France proper, 39,601,509. 

Imports and Exports. — The total imports in 1912 amount- 
ed to $1,534,515,000; exports, $1,280,816,000. Exports to the 
United States in 1913, $136,877,990; imports from, $146,100,- 
201. The chief exports are textiles, wine, raw silk, wool, 
small wares and leather; imports, wine, raw wool, raw silk, 
timber and wood, leather, skins and linen. 



Europe's map often changed 



Whatever the final outcome of the war of 1914, it is more 
than probable that the map of Europe will once more be 
changed. From the earliest days the story of the nations 
at war is one of never-ending shifting of dominion. The 
boundary lines of European countries have been like the desert 
sands. 

The greatest of military authorities has made an analysis 
of the history of mankind, showing that in 3,357 years — from 
1496 B. C. to 1861 A. D. — there were 227 years of peace and 
3,130 years of war, or more than a dozen years of war for 
every one which was without strife. The peace of Europe has 
always been a myth. 



58 THE NATIONS AT WAR 

In the last 250 years, which is historically a comparatively 
short time, one great nation, Poland, has been lost; two others, 
Germany and Italy, have come to their present national unity, 
and numerous other lesser States — Holland, Belgium, Switzer- 
land, Portugal and the Slav and Latin States of the Balkan 
peninsula — have been battlegrounds, losing and gaining their 
independence as if with the throw of the dice. 

In point of numbers involved, no other war can be com- 
pared to the present terrible conflict enshrouding the greater 
part of Europe, but in one year 1,300,000 men were called out 
and most of them perished, in the campaign of 1814. Between 
1804 and 1815 Napoleon sent to their death more than 1,700,000 
Frenchmen, to whom must be added probably 2,000,000 men 
born outside of France. Napoleon changed more boundary 
lines than any other man. 

THE THIRTY YEARS ' WAR 

Europe was devastated by the Thirty Years' War of Ger- 
many, the last great combat between Catholicism and Protes- 
tantism early in the seventeenth century. Germany, a federa- 
tion of States, was then called the Holy Roman Empire. The 
House of Hapsburg ruled the empire. Richelieu, the great 
French statesman, who had no religious prejudices and desired 
to crush the Hapsburgs, aided the Protestants. The war swept 
over Germany, Sweden, France and the Netherlands. When 
it ended Switzerland and the United Netherlands were freed 
from German dominion, and the States of what is now Ger- 
many were conceded to be separate from the Hapsburg rule 
and to be autonomous, or having the right of self-government. 
France penetrated to the east by the cession of the bishoprics 
of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Alsace went from Austrian hands 
to France. Sweden, great on the sea, received enough territory 
in North Germany to command the mouths of the three German 
rivers, the Oder, Elbe and Weser. 

The largest territory received by any of the German States 
was by Brandenburg, which later became Prussia and finally 
Germany. In 1701 the Elector Frederick of Brandenburg took 
the title of King of Prussia, and Prussia came to be the ex- 
ponent of German nationalism and enmity to Hapsburg domi- 




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THE XATIOXS AT WAR 59 

nation. Frederick the Great, ancestor of the present Kaiser, 
Wilhelm II, reigned in Prussia from 1740 to 17S6 and found 
his opportunity to lead his nation to greater power in the War 
of the Austrian Succession. 

The ''Succession Wars" were five in number. The result 
of the first one — of the Spanish Succession — early in the 
eighteenth century, was to give Austria the Spanish Nether- 
lands, and the duchies of Milan, Naples and Sardinia. Savoy, 
a leader in Italian affairs, exchanged Sardinia for Sicily. Eng- 
land gained Gibraltar and Arcadia in America from the 
French. The War of the Polish Succession, ending in 1738, 
brought France to guarantee it would not interfere with the 
ascendancy of Maria Theresa to the throne of Austria. 

FBEDEPJCK MADE A SEW MAP 

It was at this point that Frederick the Great interfered. 
He reasserted an old claim to Austria's throne and invaded 
Silesia, adding it to Prussia's territory. 

The growth of Russia is closely related to the history of 
Sweden, even as it is now through Russia's suzerainty over 
Finland. Sweden had come into power when Charles XII 
crushed a coalition of Denmark, Poland and Russia. In 1709 
he invaded Russia and was defeated. Peter the Great then 
seized Sweden east of the Baltic and built St. Petersburg. 

The history of Poland is one of gradual decline in power 
from the middle of the eighteenth century, due in large part 
to the loose system of government and weak rulers. In 1772 
Prussia, Austria and Russia got parts of Poland. Kosciuszko 
drove the Russians from Warsaw, but internal dissension 
ruined the Polish cause, and the final partition came in 1795. 

The wars of Napoleon Bonaparte from the first brilliant 
Italian campaign to their end at Waterloo, are records of ter- 
ritorial aggrandizement for France and the house of Bona- 
parte. In the first campaign Italy became the Cisalpine Re- 
public, and Genoa the Ligurian Republic. This was in the time 
of Napoleon's democratic sympathies. Austria was forced to 
give up the lower Netherlands — Belgium and Lombardy. 

Napoleon became First Consul of France in 1799. Pied- 
mont and Parma were annexed in 1802. When his ideas of 



60 THE NATIONS AT WAR 

democracy grew dim and he became Emperor in 1804 he made 
himself King of Italy and annexed his Ligurian Republic. 

THE EFFECT OF AUSTEKLITZ 

The next campaign was against the Russian, Austrian and 
English coalition. Vienna was occupied and the battle of 
Austerlitz again made a new map necessary. Francis I of 
Austria ceded Tyrol and Venetia. His successor gave up the 
title of Emperor and the Holy Roman Empire dissolved into 
history. 

In 1806 Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine, 
made his brothers, Joseph, King of Naples, and Louis, King 
of Holland. Prussia entered the war and Napoleon entered 
Berlin. He made a treaty with Russia to crush England. 
Portugal, an English ally, was dismembered. Spain was con- 
quered and Joseph Bonaparte became its King. The Swedish 
revolution in 1809 brought Marshal Bernadotte, a brother-in- 
law of Joseph, to the Swedish throne. Jerome Bonaparte got 
the Kingdom of Westphalia. Tuscany was annexed in 1807, 
the Papal States in 1809 and Holland and part of the German 
coast in 1810. Austria gave up its Illyrian provinces. 

The tide turned with the Russian invasion, after Russia 
went over to England in 1812. In swift succession came the 
terrible reverses of the Franco-Russian campaign, the defen- 
sive campaign of 1814, the abdication, the One Hundred Days 
and Waterloo. The Congress of Vienna rearranged the map 
of Europe and France went back to its place west of the Rhine. 
Belgium was annexed by Holland, and was freed only when 
the Catholics of Belgium revolted against Protestant Holland 
in 1830. 

The Congress of Vienna also prepared the way for Italian 
unity. Seven principal States were mapped out and only two 
left under foreign rule, French Corsica and Austrian Lom- 
bardy and Venetia. Unification came under Victor Em- 
manuel II. 

The loosening of Turkish rule in Eastern Europe came in 
1829, when Greece won its independence, aided by Russia. 
Bulgaria, Herzegovina, now one of Austria's troublesome 
Slavic States, Servia and Montenegro became independent in 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 61 

1875. Roumania was freed two years later. In the treaty of 
Berlin, 1879, Bosnia and Herzegovina went to Austria. 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR OF 1870-71 

The war of France with Prussia in 1870-71, in which the 
latter was joined by the South German States, contrary to 
the expectation of France, was due largely to the action of the 
great Prussian statesman, Bismarck. It resulted in the com- 
plete defeat and downfall of Napoleon III, the establishment 
of the French Republic, and the unification of the German 
States under Wilhelm I, King of Prussia. The immediate 
cause of France 's declaration of war, July 12, 1870, was the 
attempt of Bismarck to place Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern 
on the throne of Spain, in succession to Queen Isabella, who 
had been driven from the throne. 

Paris clamored for war and the streets of the French capi- 
tal resounded with cries of ' ' On to Berlin ! ' ' But a rude awak- 
ening was in store for the French. As the French army moved 
toward the Rhine, the old feeling of a unified Germany took 
firm hold in every German State and a solid front was pre- 
sented to the common enemy's advance. 

The German army, under the military genius, Von Moltke, 
was mobilized and on the border in a miraculously short time. 
The world was amazed at the rapidity displayed. England 
declared its neutrality, and Russia, Prussia's friend, then 
threatened Austria with invasion if that country offered 
France aid. 

Meanwhile in Paris even the Emperor became aware that 
no nation so unprepared as his could ever hope to win against 
one already mobilized and on the frontier. There was not an 
arm of the French service fit for war at that time. Arms, 
ammunition, clothing, food, transportation, horses, medicine, 
all were inadequate or lacking. The ministry had grossly de- 
ceived the Emperor and involved the nation in a struggle, the 
end of which easily could be foreseen. 

Alsace and Lorraine were invaded by the Germans, who de- 
feated MacMahon August 6 at Worth and sent his army in 
flight toward Paris. After one or two small reverses at the 



62 THE NATIONS AT WAR 

beginning of the war, the success of the Germans was almost 
continuous. While MacMahon was retreating, another French 
army was beaten and pushed toward Metz, which was strongly 
fortified and under command of Bazaine. Metz was cut oft 
and besieged. MacMahon was ordered back to relieve Bazaine, 
but he was met at Sedan September 2, and after a heavy battle 
was compelled to surrender. With him was the Emperor, 
Napoleon III. Nearly half the French army was killed. 

THE SIEGE OF PAKIS 

When Paris learned the stunning news the empire came to 
an end. A Republic was declared and preparations made to 
defend the city. The French spirit now was aroused, and in 
spite of the humiliation of successive defeats in the past two 
months, it continued with a much smaller force to resist the 
German advance on Paris. The capital was invested by the 
German army September 19, 1870, and until the last of Jan- 
uary the garrison made a heroic defense. 

The seat of government had been transferred to Tours and 
Bordeaux, and the depleted nation raised armies in the prov- 
inces and continued resistance to the invaders. After holding 
out to the end of October, Metz surrendered, and by this and 
the fall of Strasburg, almost 200,000 Frenchmen became pris- 
oners of war. These events sealed the fate of the capital, and 
it settled down to resist so long as its supplies lasted. At the 
point of starvation it gave up January 28, 1871. Peace was 
concluded at Versailles, and the vanquished nation promised 
to pay Germany $1,000,000,000 in three years, support the 
German army until it was withdrawn, and give up Alsace and 
a part of Lorraine. 

Another humiliation imposed by Bismarck upon the beaten 
country was his choice of Versailles as the place at which to 
seal German unity by the coronation of William I as Emperor. 
The South German States were taken into the confederation 
and the German Empire was established. This took place 
January 18, 1871. 

GERMANS ENTER PARIS 

On March 1, 1871, the Germans entered Paris through the 
Arc de Triomphe— the triumphal arch Napoleon had erected 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 63 

in honor of France's conquests in Prussia and elsewhere. As 
the victorious Germans rode into the city a swarm of Paris 
street boys ran on every side of them, burning disinfectants 
in shovels, as though protecting the Parisians against some 
loathsome disease — an amazing insult that was not lost on the 
conquerors. 

The war that had crushed France and that had paid the last 
fearful price of Napoleonism had also welded the many sepa- 
rate German States into one mighty empire, with the Prussian 
monarch at its head. 

King William of Prussia, first Emperor of Germany, was 
the grandfather of the present Kaiser. 

France was beaten. The old motto : ' ' Vae Victis ! ' ' (" Woe 
to the Conquered") still holds good in European wars. And 
France was forced to settle. The patriotic French people 
eagerly subscribed to the war debt of a billion dollars and 
worked like mad to pay it off. But France paid heartbrokenly, 
and has ever since yearned and prayed for the hour of revenge. 

Roughly speaking, the losses on both sides (in human life) 
were: 

Germans, 28,000 killed, 101,000 wounded and disabled. 
French, 156,000 killed, 143,000 wounded and disabled, 720,000 
surrendered. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE A RICH PRIZE 

German unity changed the map of Europe but very little. 
However, in that slight cession of Alsace and Lorraine to 
Germany after the war, were sown the seeds of hatred between 
the French and the Germans. 

That corner of Europe known as Alsace-Lorraine covers 
about 5,000 square miles to the west of the River Rhine and 
has been one of the richest portions of the German Empire. 
It has 2,000,000 people, the population of Strasburg, the 
capital, being 160,000. Alsace-Lorraine is rich in coal and its 
cities are the seats of manufacturing industries. Muelhausen, 
the scene of recent battles, is the seat of cotton weaving. 
Alsace, rich and fertile, produces more wines than the rest 
of Germany. Wheat, rye and barley are large products. 

Many of the people of Alsace-Lorraine removed to France 



64 THE NATIONS AT WAR 

to escape the policy of Germany, which was to Teutonize it 
by enforced use of the German language. For the most part 
the military party enforced its policy of a rule by force and 
this kept alive rather than crushed the love for France. 

The country is highly developed, is covered with a network 
of railroads, and, in addition, there is a system of canals which 
provides cheap transportation. 



JAPAN ENTEES THE WAR 

It became evident very early in the war that active steps 
would be taken by Japan to support the interests of its 
ally, England, in the Far East. On Saturday, August 
15, an ultimatum was sent by Japan to Germany demanding 
the withdrawal of German warships from the Orient and the 
evacuation of Kiaochow, and giving Germany until Sunday, 
August 23, to comply with the demand. Otherwise, the ulti- 
matum declared, Japan would take action. The text of the 
ultimatum follows : 

"We consider it highly important and necessary in the 
present situation to take measures to remove the causes of 
all disturbances of the peace in the far east, and to safeguard 
the general interests as contemplated by the agreement of 
alliance between Japan and Great Britain. 

DEMANDS WARSHIPS WITHDRAW 

' ' In order to secure a firm and enduring peace in eastern 
Asia, the establishment of which is the aim of the said agree- 
ment, the imperial Japanese government sincerely believes 
it to be its duty to give the advice to the imperial German 
government to carry out the following two propositions : 

"First. To withdraw immediately from Japanese and 
Chinese waters German men-of-war and armed vessels of all 
kinds and to disarm at once those which cannot be so with- 
drawn. 

' ' Second. To deliver on a date not later than September 
15 to the imperial Japanese authorities without condition or 
compensation the entire leased territory of Kiaochow with a 
view to the eventual restoration of the same to China. 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 65 

"The imperial Japanese government announces at the 
same time that in the event of it not receiving by noon on 
August 23, 1914, an answer from the imperial German gov- 
ernment signifying its unconditional acceptance of the above 
advice offered by the imperial Japanese government, Japan 
will be compelled to take such action as she may deem neces- 
sary to meet the situation. ' ' 

There being no answer from Germany when the time set 
by the ultimatum expired, Japan declared war and proceeded 
to send an expedition to operate against Kiaochow. 

HOW GERMANY GOT KIAOCHOW 

Germany's acquisition of Kiaochow, the evacuation of 
which Japan demanded, followed closely upon the acquisi- 
tion of areas of interest and spheres of influence in China to 
foreign powers. Until 1895 no foreign power aside from the 
Portuguese and English had been allowed to hold possessions 
on or near the coast of China. Japan acquired Formosa by 
treaty in that year. Russia secured a concession for the 
Manchurian railway and France obtained a rectification of 
the frontier at Tongking. 

Germany's seizure of Kiaochow in retaliation for the mur- 
der of German missionaries by Chinese followed in Novem- 
ber, 1897, and in March the port with adjacent territory was 
leased by China to Germany for ninety-nine years. The 
district was declared a protectorate of the Germans to expire 
on April 27, 1898, and its administration was intrusted to the 
navy department with a naval officer as governor. 

RUSSIA LEASES PORT ARTHUR 

In November, 1897, Russia obtained a twenty-five year 
lease of Port Arthur and Talienwan with 800 square miles 
of territory, and secured a naval base and an ice free port. 
In the following May further concessions gave Russia virtual 
control of Manchuria and a little later Russian influence was 
extended into Mongolia. 

The Russo-Japanese war, however, limited Russia's ac- 
tivities there and resulted in Japan's acquisition of Port 
Arthur. To preserve the balance of power Great Britain 



66 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 



April 2, 1898, leased Weihaiwei on the same terms as those 
in the Russian lease of Port Arthur. 



ENGLISH INFLUENCE FELT 



In February, 1898, Great Britain had established its in- 
fluence without claiming exclusive privileges in the Yangtze 
valley. These concessions were followed by similar privi- 
leges for France, which on April 3, 1898, leased the port of 




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WHERE JAPAN ENTERED THE WAR 
The circles on this map surround Germany's Pacific possessions 

Kwangchauwan on the southern coast for ninety-nine years. 
On June 9, following, Great Britain leased for ninety-nine 
years a 200 square mile extension of territory on the main- 
land opposite Hongkong and about the same time Japan 
secured nonalienation pledges concerning the province of 
Fukien. Italy demanded a lease of Sanmun Bay, but did not 
press it because of popular opposition as expressed at home 
to a policy of expansion. 

LEADS TO "OPEN DOOR" DECLARATION 

All these territorial negotiations led up to the celebrated 
international "open door" declaration. While England had 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 



67 



long urged the policy of equality of opportunity for all nations 
in Chinese trade the United States accomplished the first 
broad recognition of that principle. 

As a result of negotiations by John Hay, the American 
secretary of state, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, 
Russia and Japan early in 1900 agreed in guaranteeing the 
treaty rights of the United States and thus, through the most 
favored nation clause, the treaty rights of other nations in 
China should remain unimpaired in the territory except mili- 
tary or naval stations acquired or leased by each power, and 
that goods of the treaty powers should continue to be ad- 
mitted there on equal terms with those of the nation newly in 
possession. 

Great Britain and Germany supplemented this on October 
16, 1900, by a definite agreement between them to uphold the 
policy of an open door in China, to abstain from seizure of 
territory themselves and to influence other governments, as 
far as possible, to the same end. 

The Anglo-Japanese alliance of February, 1902, for the 
protection of their respective interests in China and Korea 
was another factor of great importance. The immediate ob- 
ject of the alliance was understood to be the limitation of 
Russian expansion in Korea and Manchuria. 

THE AGE OF "EFFICIENCY. 




— Chicago Daily News 




M^WITMRLAND 



THE FRANCO-GERMAN BORDER 
At the north, a German Army from Luxemburg took Longwy after a long 
siege and advanced toward Paris via Verdun, while another German Army 
was overrunning Belgium. Luneville, further south, was also taken by a Ger- 
man force advancing eastward on the road to Paris. At the extreme south 
the French crossed through the passes of the Vosges (the mountain range 
between France and Alsace), and took Mulhausen and Altkirch. This invasion, 
however, was checked and the French forces were compelled to retire. 



CHAPTER V 

THE INVASION OF BELGIUM 

Belgians Rush to Defense of Their Frontier — Towns Bom- 
barded and Burned — The Defense of Liege — A German 
Officer's Experience — An Englishman's Story — The 
Terrible Krupp Siege Guns — Destruction of Louvain — 
Fall of Namur — German Proclamation to Inhabitants. 

AT 10 o'clock on the night of August 2 German troops 
crossed the Belgian frontier, coming from Aix-la- 
Chapelle, or Aachen, temporary headquarters of the gen- 
eral staff, and the bloody invasion of Belgium, involving the 
violation of its neutral treaty rights, began. Simultaneously 
the German forces entered the independent duchy of Luxem- 
burg to the south, en route to the French border, and also 
came in touch with French outposts in the provinces of Alsace 
and Lorraine. 

The events that followed in Belgium furnished a genuine 
surprise to the world. Instead of finding the Belgian people 
indifferent to the violation of their territory and the Belgian 
army only a slight obstacle in the road to Paris, as was prob- 
ably expected by the German general staff, a most gallant and 
determined resistance was offered to the progress of the Ger- 
man hosts. The army of the little State was quickly mobilized 
for defense and its operations, while ineffectual in stopping 
the Kaiser's irresistible force, delayed its advance for three 
invaluable weeks, giving time for the complete mobilization of 
the French and for the landing of a British expeditionary force 
to co-operate with the latter in resisting the German approach 
to Paris. 

Just across the Belgian border lay the little towns of Vise 
and Verviers, and these were the first objects of German at- 
tack and Belgian defense. Both were occupied after desperate 
resistance by the Belgians and Vise was partly demolished by 

69 



70 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 



fire in reprisal, it was claimed, for the firing by civilians on 
the German invaders. The subsequent bombardment and 
burning of towns and villages by the Germans were explained 
in every case as measures of revenge for hostile acts on the 
part of non-combatants and intended to prevent their occur- 
rence elsewhere by striking terror into the hearts of the Bel- 
gian populace. Whatever the pretext or the excuse, the his- 
torical fact remains that the result of the German progress 




NORTH 

SEA 



—Prom the Literary Digest— Copyright, 1914. by Funk & Wagnalls Company. 



BELGIUM— THE FIRST BATTLEFIELD OF THE WAR 
The map shows the more important railroad lines connecting the cities of 
Brussels, Antwerp and Namur and those of Northern France. Paris is 200 
miles by rail from Brussels and 190 from Namur. 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 71 

toward the Franco-Belgian frontier constituted a martyrdom 
for Belgium and gained for the plucky little kingdom the full- 
est sympathy of the civilized world. 

THE ATTACK OX LIEGE 

The ancient city of Liege was attacked by the German 
artillery on August 4. The town itself was occupied five days 
later, but the modern forts surrounding it continued for some 
time longer to hold out against the fierce German attack. It 
became necessary to bring up the heaviest modern Krupp siege 
guns in order to reduce them. 

Amidst all the plethora of events which crowded them- 
selves into the first few days following the outbreak of the 
war, none was more remarkable than the Belgian stand at 
Liege against the German advance. 

The struggle round Liege bids fair to become historic, and 
the garrisons of the Liege forts when they looked out fear- 
lessly from the banks of the Meuse on the vanguard of the 
German host, and took. decision to block its further progress, 
proved their claim once again to Julius Caesar's description of 
their ancestors, "The Belgians are the bravest of the Gauls.". 

THE FALL OF LIEGE 

News of the fall of Liege and the occupation of the city 
by German troops was received with great rejoicing in 
Berlin on August 8th. Dispatches received at Amster- 
dam from the German capital said: 

The news of the fall of Liege spread with lightning rapidity 
throughout Berlin and created boundless enthusiasm. The 
Emperor sent an aide-de-camp to announce the capture of 
the city to crowds that assembled outside the palace. 

Policemen on bicycles dashed along Unter den Linden pro- 
claiming the joyful tidings. Imperial Chancellor Bethmann- 
Hollweg drove to the castle to congratulate the Emperor on 
the victory and was enthusiastically cheered along the way. 

The newspapers declared that false reports which were 
known to have been circulated in foreign countries, that the 
Germans suffered a severe reverse before Liege, would no 
longer serve to conceal Germany's triumphs. The Lokal An- 
zeiger said of the reported victory: 



72 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

I * It confirms our confidence that we can calmly await com- 
ing events. It was the prelude to deeds which will be spoken 
of as long as men live on earth." 

Another paper said : ' ' When our soldiers in the field learn 
of the surrender of Liege they will rejoice not only for the 
victory of our arms, but because of the assurance it gives that 
our march through Northern France cannot be stayed." 

GERMAN OFFICER^ EXPERIENCE AT LIEGE 

A vivid description of the fighting before Liege was given 
by a German officer who was seriously wounded in the battle. 
He described his experiences and feelings in a letter which 
read, in part, as follows : 

' ' Our trip to the Belgian border was a triumphal proces- 
sion. It was pouring rain as we marched through the Ardennes. 
The towns seemed deserted. We had no rest and during the 
night were fired upon. 

4 'At 5 a. m. August 6 we marched through the Ourthe val- 
ley, meeting obstacles everywhere. It was an awful march; 
the roads were blocked by felled trees and bowlders ; of bridges 
there were only remnants. In the afternoon we took up quar- 
ters in a village south of Liege. 

' ' Seven o 'clock. An alarm is sounded ; the captain shouts 
1 Storm Liege ! ' It is impossible. We cannot go farther ; the 
forts are thirty-five kilometers away, but we press on. 

" Thirty minutes pass and we are fired upon from the 
heights. Now shots are fired directly at us from nearer points. 
We draw our revolvers and rush forward. 

"The field is alive with troops of all arms. It is raining 
in torrents ; a thunderstorm is roaring and the night is pitch 
dark. We press on. We see soldiers fall. Now they fall in 
masses and do not rise. The sky clears, the moon shines ; we 
hear cannonading. 

"Suddenly we hear that our baggage has been attacked. 
One company turns back. The village has been burned down ; 
all the people shot. Such are the atrocities of the franc- 
tireurs (guerrillas, or civilian 'snipers'). 

I I Meanwhile we keep on, close to Liege, and turn off behind 
the wood. Four regiments lay down their knapsacks and ' iron 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 73 

rations' are taken out. The last exhortation is given; we 
form in ranks for the charge. 

"Shells whiz past, but without aim. We gallop by our 
artillery, stuck helplessly in the mud up to the hubs. A 
wild hail of bullets burst on us from a point directly opposite. 
Our own men are firing upon us, but just in time we are 
recognized. 

' ' Now we are directly in front of the firing line of the forts. 
There is wild clamoring. The parole ' Woerth ' is given. Friend 
and enemy look alike. 

COMRADES SLAIN BY HIS SIDE 

"I am lying before a barricade of trees and barbed wire, 
with my comrade, Lieut. G., on my left and the captain on my 
right. Shells explode all around; everywhere is the infernal 
noise of musketry fire. 

"The air is hot. A few yards ahead we may get better 
cover. I nudge Lieut. G. and ask, ' Shall we go forward ? ' No 
answer. He is dead. The captain jumps to his feet and falls 
back ; he is shot in the breast. I raise my arm, the company 
responds to my word of command. 

"I rush forward. A terrible blow throws me back three 
feet. I have received a shell in the left thigh. The pain is 
terrible. Before me an officer calls out his name, holds out his 
hand to me and then falls back — dead. 

1 ' In front of me there is a flag and I try to crawl up to it. 
The bearer is dead. A second shot strikes me in the left arm ; 
a third in the right arm ; I bite the earth with pain. 

"A few steps in front are the Belgian rifle pits. Our men 
advance. I lie in one place nearly twelve hours, yet, despite 
the hail of bullets, nothing happens to me. 

"A doctor comes with bandages. At noon I am carried 
away. Shivering with fever, I meet our regiment. Its losses 
are terrible — three captains, six lieutenants, nearly all from 
my battalion. 

1 ' I am taken to a field hospital. During the first few days 
I suffer terribly, but now I am much better. There are others 
who have to suffer greater pain than I ; that makes one keep 
quiet. 



74 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

"I have lost everything. The clothes I wore were so soaked 
with blood that they were burned. A Russian brought me some 
underwear and a sympathetic little woman is washing and 
mending a uniform for me. ' ' 

AN ENGLISH STOCKBROKERS STORY 

Another story is told by Guy Menzies, an English stock- 
broker, who has a residence in Belgium and came through 
Liege after the German occupation. He said that the Germans, 
although they had gained the city, were not very joyful over 
their success, as they had before them the problem of getting 
out of the city again, the forts outside being capable of a 
cross-fire that would leave them little chance of making an 
exit save with heavy losses. He speaks of boulevards lined 
with Maxims, and of being astonished at the small amount of 
damage that had been done in the town. Two bridges had been 
blown up, and the other two were heavily guarded by the 
Germans. From Liege Mr. Menzies managed to make his way, 
with various narrow escapes both from the French and Ger- 
mans, towards Verviers. His story follows : 

"After I had passed Vaux-sous-Chevremont I began to see 
some of the terrible ravages which the German advance had 
brought about. At Romsee village, with about five hun- 
dred inhabitants, every house had been burned down by the 
Germans. 

"At this point three corps were firing, and I had some 
marvelous escapes from their shells. The Germans were ad- 
vancing from Herve through Soumagne and Zhendelesse and 
were pillaging the village of Maquee. As I passed through, 
women and children were flying away from their homes with 
terror-stricken cries, not knowing where to go. 

"When I reached Fleron the people were so terrified no 
one would take me in for the night or give me any food. I had 
to push on as far as Berne. I started again at 4 a. m. on 
Monday, but I lost my way and got to Soiron. 

RESULTS OF BELGIAN FIRE 

< i There I saw more terrible traces of the fire of the forts of 
Liege. The German field guns were lying by the side of the 
road disabled, with dead horses still in their harness. The 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 75 

ground was littered with hundreds of corpses of German 
soldiers that had not been buried. The men were lying very 
close together, indicating that they were being put forward in 
close order. The wounds inflicted by the shell fire were ter- 
rible, and I hurried away from the scene as quickly as I could. 

"I got to my house at Petit Rochain at 8:30 Monday 
(August 9), having passed through Verviers. My friends 
were very scared and begged me to leave again as soon as 
possible. 

"Leaving Petit Rochain Wednesday, August 11, still on 
foot, I made my way for the Dutch frontier through Berneau 
and Moland. At Berneau, as I passed through, a great German 
army was encamped. There must have been nearly 100,000 
men of all arms, among them the Death's Head Hussars, of 
which the Crown Prince is the colonel. 

"Near Verviers I saw two huge guns nine meters long 
being drawn along a road by thirty horses attached to each. 
At Magnee they were bringing up howitzers. The Germans 
were trying to make pontoon bridges over the Meuse at Vise, 
but as soon as they were completed I saw them destroyed by 
shot from Fort Pontisie. I was told this had happened twenty 
times before. 

"At Louvain we found King Albert in consultation with 
the general staff, his majesty dressed in a general's field uni- 
form. He looked smiling and confident. The roads leading 
into Brussels were crowded with mournful processions of Red 
Cross wagons bringing in the wounded, both Belgian and Ger- 
man ; walking by the side of the carts and comforting the suf- 
ferers were numerous priests and monks bearing a Red Cross 
badge. The scene was piteous and moved all beholders to 
tears. 

' ' Soldiers returning from the front were greeted along the 
road by innumerable women and children, who handed them 
bottles of wine, bread and meat, and did not forget to be repaid 
with a kiss." 

A TERRIBLE GERMAN" WEAPON USED AT LIEGE AND NAMUR 

The monster siege guns or mortars used by the Germans 
against the forts of Liege and afterward at Namur appear to 



76 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

have been a secret product of the Krupp gun factories and 
were described by an American correspondent at Berlin in 
September as follows : 

"The pinnacle of German war science is the 42-centimeter 
(16.5 inch) Krupp mortar, the most miraculous and powerful 
Aveapon designed in the history of war. 

"The Krupp mortar is the one unique and astonishing 
product of this month of fighting. It has smashed apparently 
impregnable fortifications like those of Liege and Namur, has 
been battering at the perfect defenses of Antwerp, and is ex- 
pected by German artillerists to blow open a roadway to Paris. 

"Mentioned by thousands, the Krupp mortar is known only 
by a few. The gun was invented eight years ago, but only those 
in the confidence of the Krupps know who the inventor is. He 
may be marooned with his secret, for he holds in his grasp the 
destiny of Germany. 

"For eight years the Krupps worked at the secret while 
guarding it with most rigorous precautions. This year they 
perfected it. This mortar fires the largest and most dangerous 
projectile ever shot from a weapon. In making it no single 
workman worked on more than one small piece, and one vital 
part of the machinery was made in Austria. 

KEPT SECRET FROM COMMITTEE 

"Even the artillery subcommittee of the Bundesrath was 
not informed this year. It was merely asked to withhold 
debate on the artillery situation, as something 'extraordinary' 
was being provided. That something extraordinary was first 
seen when the Liege forts, which could withstand any artillery 
fire known to Belgian officers, collapsed like shanties, burying 
hundreds of the garrison under the wreckage. 

"At Namur the same story was repeated. I have just read 
an account in an English newspaper of the capture of Namur, 
in which it is said that two French regiments coming to the 
relief of the garrison, found such carnage that they retired in 
awe. But the surprise of the Belgians was no greater than 
that of the German artillery officers themselves, who watched 
incredulously the miracle of the Krupp mortar. All that the 
official dispatches told the German public was that 'the enemy 
had not reckoned on the power of our artillery. ' 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 77 

GUNNERS RETIRE TO A TUNNEL 

' ■ So far as I can learn, what was done at Liege was this : 
"At some distance from a fort a space was cleared and a 
great mortar set in a concrete bed occupying a circle with 
a radius of 100 feet. Behind the mortar and outside this circle 
was a tunnel leading to a subterranean chamber. The great 
mortar was sighted, the projectile was set in place and then 
the gunners retired to their underground chamber, where they 
pressed a button and the mighty shot was fired. 

"The concussion was terrible. Anything within fifty feet 
of the gun at the time of explosion would be injured. Even 
men in the neighboring armies complained of headaches and 
toothaches from the jar and the same complaints were made 
by the men in the forts where the projectiles exploded. 

PASSES THROUGH THREE WALLS 

"The projectile pierced through one, two and three ordi- 
narily impenetrable walls and buried itself in a fourth. Here 
it lay silent many seconds, then exploded like a volcano, bring- 
ing to the ground in ruins every stone which had stood upon 
another. 

"A shot fired into the center of a fort buried itself deep in 
the ground and lay there as though gathering strength for its 
demoniacal eruption. Then, after twenty seconds, it exploded 
and razed the proudest walls in Belgium. 

"Each shell costs $2,500. What it contains nobody but the 
Krupps know. It is brought to the battlefield in pieces and 
assembled by the highest paid and most trusted of the Krupp 
engineers. It is aimed and loaded by them and not one member 
of the artillery corps in the Kaiser's army has anything to do 
with it. The slogan of these men is ' One shot for one fort. ' 

KRUPPS RECENTLY IN DISGRACE 

' ' Not a year ago the name of Krupp was disgraced through- 
out the world. Yet the Krupps in applying modern science at 
Essen at that time had built the most remarkable community 
of comfortable homes in existence and by modern science had 
provided for their men in a manner surpassed by no other con- 
cern. The same science working along different lines built the 
Krupp 42-centimeter mortar. 



78 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 



' ' There is something* significant in this combination. This 
science is German and not the Krupps'. It is willing to work 
for peace and happiness, but it has proved that it can work for 
war. The Germans are working for the survival of the most 
scientific. ' ' 

GENERAL LEMAn's REPORT 

General Leman, the Belgian commander who gained fame 
for himself by his defense of the Liege forts, was captured by 
the Germans. When made a prisoner, he sent a letter to King 




x *&$$ 



t v^&m 



.1 tiffinE «a«>K!*. * « 



LIEGE AND ITS RING OP FORTS 

Albert in which he tells how he held the Liege forts after 
August 6, when only the temporary arrest of the foe seemed 
longer possible. The letter read as follows : 

"After the honorable engagement of August 4, 5 and 6, 
I considered that the Liege forts could only play the role of 
forts of arrete (arrest or stoppage). I, nevertheless, main- 
tained the military government in order to co-ordinate the de- 
fense as much as possible and to exercise a moral influence 
upon the garrison. 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 79 

"Your Majesty is not ignorant that I was at Fort Loncin 
on August 6 at noon. You will learn with grief that the fort 
was blown up yesterday at 5 :20 in the afternoon, the greater 
part of the garrison being buried under the ruins. That I did 
not lose my life in that catastrophe is due to my escort, who 
drew me from a stronghold whilst I was being suffocated by 
gas from exploded powder. I was conveyed to a trench, where 
I fell. A German captain gave me a drink and I was made a 
prisoner and taken to Liege. 

"I am certain that I have shown carelessness in this letter, 
but I am physically shattered by the explosion of Fort Loncin. 
In honor of our arms I have surrendered neither the fortress 
nor the forts. 

"I deign to ask your pardon, sire. In Germany, where I 
am proceeding, my thoughts will be, as they always have been, 
of Belgium and the King. I would willingly have given my life 
the better to serve them, but death was not granted to me. 

"Lieutenant-General Leman." 

General Leman's letter furnishes direct confirmation of 
the effect of the new ' ' Krupp mortar" (Germany's tremendous 
engine of death) at Liege. 

BLEW UP HIS FORT 

The French war office issued a report showing the valor of 
Major Nameche, the commanding officer of Fort Chaudfon- 
taine, one of the Liege strongholds, which commanded the 
railroad to Aix-la-Chapelle by Verviers and the tunnel to 
Chaudfontaine. 

A continual and extremely violent bombardment reduced 
the fort to a mere heap of ruins. Major Nameche judged that 
further resistance was impossible, blocked up the tunnel by 
running several locomotives into each other and set fire to the 
fuses leading to the mines surrounding the forts. 

His mission then accomplished, Major Nameche, deter- 
mined that the German flag should not fly even over the ruins 
of his fort, blew up the powder magazine, and perished. 

PEASANTS AND TOWNSPEOPLE FLEE 

Following the fall of Liege came a number of sanguinary 
engagements in northern Belgium ; the unopposed occupation 



80 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

of Brussels on August 20, and a four days' battle beginning on 
August 23, in which the Germans forced back the French and 
British allies to the line of Noyon-LaFere across the northern 
frontier of France. In the northern engagements the Belgians 
gave a good account of themselves, but were everywhere forced 
to give way before the innumerable hosts of the Kaiser, though 
not without inflicting tremendous losses on the invaders. 

The retirement of the civilian population before the ad- 
vancing masses of the German army was a pathetic spectacle. 
It was a flight in terror and distress. 

On Tuesday, August 18, the German troops surged down 
upon Tirlemont, a town twenty miles southeast of Louvain, 
around which they had been massing for some days, presum- 
ably by rail and motor cars. The stories which had reached 
the inhabitants of Tirlemont of the happenings at surrounding 
towns and villages had not added to their peace of mind, and 
soon the moment for flight arrived. All kinds of civilians set 
out towards Brussels and Ghent for refuge. At times the road 
was full of carts bearing entire families, with pots and pans 
swaying and banging against the sides as the vehicles bumped 
over the roadway. The younger women, boys and menfolk 
who had been left in the towns and villages fled on foot. 
Priests, officials and Bed Cross helpers mingled with the 
crowd. This stream of unfortunates uprooted from their 
homes was thus described by an eyewitness : 

"These masses of broken-hearted people moved silently 
along, many weeping, few talking. With them they brought 
a few of their possessions, as pathetically miscellaneous as 
the effects one might seize in the panic haste of a hotel fire. 
Ox wagons, bundles and babies on clog-drawn carts or on men's 
backs, bicycles and handcarts laden with kitchen utensils, all 
mingled with the human stream. Here were to be seen sewing 
machines, beds, bedding, food, and there a little girl or boy 
with some toy clasped uncomprehendingly in a dirty hand; 
they also knew that danger threatened and that they must 
save what they held most dear. And even among these un- 
happy people there were some more unfortunate than the 
others — men and women who had no bundle, children who 
had no doll. All the way to Louvain there flowed this human 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 81 

stream of misery. Back along the Tirlemont road rifle firing 
could be heard and entrenchments were to be seen in the town 
itself." 

These scenes between Tirlemont and Louvain were typical 
of those on every road leading to the larger cities of Belgium 
as the inhabitants fled before the approach of the dreaded 
Uhlans. 

FALL OF NAMUR 

On the afternoon of Sunday, August 23, the fortress of 
Namur was evacuated by the Belgians, and the town was later 
occupied by the Germans. 

The fortress was said to be as strong as Liege and it owed 
its importance in the present war to the fact that it was the 
apex of the two French flanks. One ran from Namur to 
Charleroi and the other by Givet to Mezieres. 

Warned by their experiences at Liege, the Germans made 
most determined efforts against Namur. From the north, 
south and east they were able to bring up their big guns 
unhindered, and by assaults at Charleroi and Dinant they 
endeavored to break the sides of the French triangle. Namur 
finally collapsed but clever strategy enabled the French to fall 
back upon their main lines. 

The fall of Namur, nevertheless, was a decided blow to the 
allies. This was admitted by the French minister of war, 
who said at midnight Monday, August 24, of the failure of the 
''Namur triangle": 

"It is, of course, regrettable that owing to difficulties of 
execution which could not have been foreseen our plan of 
attack has not achieved its object. Had it done so it would 
have shortened the war, but in any case our defense remains 
intact in the face of an already weakened enemy. Our losses 
are severe. It will be premature to estimate them or to 
estimate those of the German army, which, however, has 
suffered so severely as to be compelled to halt in its counter- 
attack and establish itself in new positions." 

The object of the French triangle, having its apex at 
Namur, was to break the German army in two. The British 
troops, as related in another chapter, were cooperating with 
the French at Mons. 



82 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

When the Belgians evacuated Namur the Germans had 
knocked to pieces three of the forts to the northeast of the 
town with howitzer fire. Between these forts they advanced 
and bombarded the town, which was defended by the Belgian 
Fourth Division. Namur was evacuated when the defenders 
found themselves unable to support a heavy artillery fire. 

The Germans attacked in a formation three ranks deep, 
the front rank lying down, the second kneeling, and the third 
standing. They afforded a target which was fully used by 
the men behind the Belgian machine guns. Some fifty or sixty 
howitzers were brought into action by the Germans, who 
concentrated several guns simultaneously on each fort and 
smothered it with fire. 

DESTRUCTION OF LOUVAIN 

At this stage of the war in Belgium an event occurred that 
riveted universal attention upon the German operations. On 
Tuesday, August 25, the beautiful, historic, scholastic city of 
Louvain, containing 42,000 inhabitants, was bombarded by the 
Germans and later put to the torch. The fire, which burned 
for several days, devastated the city. Many artistic and 
historical treasures, including the priceless library of Louvain 
University and several magnificent churches, centuries old, 
were totally destroyed. Only the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), 
one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe, 
was spared and left standing in the midst of ruins. 

The Rotterdam Telegraf, a neutral newspaper, declared 
that in the devastation of Louvain "a wound that can never 
be healed" was inflicted "on the whole of civilized humanity." 
Frank Jewett Mather, the well-known American art critic, 
bitterly denounced the act as one of wanton destruction, saying 
that Louvain "contained more beautiful works of art than the 
Prussian nation has produced in its entire history." 

Richard Harding Davis, the noted correspondent, wit- 
nessed part of the tragedy from the window of a car in which 
he was held prisoner by the Germans, and said in the New 
York Tribune : 

' ' For two hours on Thursday night I was in what for six 
hundred years had been the city of Louvain. The Germans 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 88 

were burning it, and to hide their work kept us locked in the 
railroad carriages. But the story was written against the sky, 
was told to us by German soldiers incoherent with excesses; 
and we could read it in the faces of women and children being 
led to concentration camps and of citizens on their way to 
be shot. 

''The Germans sentenced Louvain on Wednesday to be- 
come a wilderness, and with the German system and love of 
thoroughness they left Louvain an empty, blackened shell. 
The reason for this appeal to the torch and the execution of 
non-combatants, as given to me on Thursday morning by 
General von Lutwitz, military governor of Brussels, was this : 
On Wednesday, while the German military commander of the 
troops in Louvain was at the Hotel de Ville talking to the 
burgomaster, a son of the burgomaster, with an automatic 
pistol, shot the chief of staff and German staff surgeons. 

"Lutwitz claims this was the signal for the Civic Guard, 
in civilian clothes on roofs, to fire upon the German soldiers 
in the open square below. He said also the Belgians had 
quick-firing guns, brought from Antwerp. As for a week the 
Germans had occupied Louvain and closely guarded all ap- 
proaches, the story that there was any gun-running is absurd. 

"Fifty Germans were killed and wounded. For that, 
said Lutwitz, Louvain must be wiped out. 

1 ' No one defends the sniper. But because ignorant Mexi- 
cans, when their city was invaded, fired upon American sailors 
and marines, we did not destroy Vera Cruz. Even had Vera 
Cruz been bombarded, money could have restored it. Money 
can never restore Louvain. Great architects and artists, dead 
these six hundred years, made it beautiful, and their handi- 
work belonged to the world. With torch and dynamite the 
Germans have turned these masterpieces into ashes, and all 
the Kaiser 's horses and all his men can not bring them back 
again. ' ' 

AMERICAN GIRL'S AWFUL EXPERIENCE 

Here is the story of Marguerite Uyttebroeck, who lived 
through the sacking of Louvain and reached London Septem- 
ber 11 en route to the town where she was born — Assumption, 
Illinois — the youngest child of a family numbering nine. 



84 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

Marguerite, aged 19, was sure that only her aged mother, 
who was with her, is alive. Three weeks before all her 
brothers and sisters were together with their parents in a 
farmhouse on the outskirts of Louvain. 

"My mother and father," the girl began, "went to the 
United States from Belgium twenty-five years ago and settled 
at Assumption. We farmed there, but a year ago we all 
moved back to Louvain, where father bought a farm outside 
the city and renewed old acquaintances. 

"There was fighting beyond Louvain the whole day and 
night before the Belgian soldiers began to run through the 
town with the Germans hot on the trail. We all hid at first and 
watched the pursuit between the shutters, but when the first 
scare was over we sat on the doorsteps and saw the parade of 
the German soldiers with their bands playing and their good 
order. 

"Nobody had an idea they would harm us, and it was 
almost like going to a theater to see them march by. They 
didn't pay any attention to us for a time, but when the soldiers 
were dismissed they began getting drunk. Then things be- 
came bad. 

"I was at a friend's house in the city, and the first thing 
I knew the house next door was on fire. 

"When we tried to rush out into the street bullets came 
against the door like hail. My girl friend's father and mother 
were killed in their own vestibule. We turned around and 
ran upstairs to the attic and stayed there until flames began 
coming through the walls. Then we got on to the roof and 
climbed along over other roofs to the end of the street, got 
down through the house and out into the back garden over 
the wall, and began to run through the fields toward my house. 

"It was dark. We ran almost into two Uhlans. One of 
them had an electric torch. He flashed it in my face and 
asked me where I was going. 

"When I told him in English that I was going to my house, 
he asked if I was English. I told him I was an American, but 
he only laughed. He was going to dismount when his horse 
took fright at something, pitched him on the ground and 
stunned him. I fled while the other Uhlan was caring for his 
comrade. 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 85 

" When I reached my house I found the Germans had taken 
father and my four brothers prisoners, and had taken them 
away — where, mother did not know. 

"Aswe were trying to decide what to do another company 
of German soldiers came along, rode over the fence, and set 
fire to the house and barns. My two sisters told the soldiers 
what they thought of such wickedness and the last I saw of 
them they were being carried off by half a dozen soldiers, 
and never came back. 

" While the fire was burning fiercely I suddenly remem- 
bered a piece of paper a priest gave my mother in Assumption, 
Illinois, when I was born. It was in my room and was my only 
proof that I was an American. 

"So I ran around the house, climbed up over the trellis, 
and got into my room, already full of smoke. I took the paper, 
and then, with my mother, got back to the city and put her 
in a friend's house. 

"I started looking for my father, brothers, and sisters. 
My hunt lasted five days and nights, and during that time I 
saw many terrible sights. 

' ' On the sixth day it was announced that trains would take 
us to Germany, and when the soldiers came they told some old 
men to line up and march to the station. They obeyed gladly. 
When they got to the station they were lined up against a wall 
and shot. 

"If the Belgian commission wants eyewitness proof of 
atrocities in Louvain I can tell them the names of women 
I saw outraged and then thrown into a fire, and other things 
even worse. ' ' 

The girl, with her mother, sailed for New York September 
12th on the Megantic. 

GERMAN REPORT ON LOUVAIN 

An official communication of the German general staff 
on the occurrences at Louvain, Belgium, dated August 30th 
and made public September 19, 1914, was as follows : 

"The city of Loewen (Louvain) had surrendered and 
was given over to us by the Belgian authorities. On Mon- 
day, August 24th, some of our troops were shipped there and 



86 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

intercourse with the inhabitants was developing quite 
friendly. 

"On Tuesday afternoon, August 25th, our troops, hearing 
about an imminent Belgian sortie from Antwerp, left in that 
direction, the commanding general ahead in a motor car, 
leaving behind only a colonel with soldiers (landsturm bat- 
talion 'Neuss') to protect the railroad. As the rest of the 
commanding general's staff with the horses was going to 
follow and was collected on the market place, suddenly rifle 
fire opened from all the surrounding houses, all the horses 
being killed and five officers wounded, one of them seriously. 

"Simultaneously fire opened at about ten different places 
in town, also on some of our troops just arrived and waiting 
on the square in front of the station and on incoming military 
trains. A designed cooperation with the Belgian sortie from 
Antwerp was established beyond a doubt. 

PRIESTS SHOT PUBLICLY 

"Two priests caught in handing out ammunition to the 
people were shot at once in front of the station. 

"The fight lasted till Wednesday, the 26th, in the after- 
noon (twenty-four hours), when stronger forces, arrived in 
the meantime, succeeded in getting the upper hand. The 
town and northern suburb were burning at different places 
and by this time have probably burned down altogether. 

1 ' On the part of the Belgian Government a general rising 
of the population against the enemy had been organized for 
a long time. Depots of arms were found, where to each gun 
was attached the name of the citizen to be armed. 

NOT WITHIN HAGUE AGREEMENTS 

"A spontaneous rising of the people has been recognized 
at the request of the smaller states at the Hague conference 
as being within the law of nations, as far as weapons are 
carried openly and the laws of civilized warfare are being 
observed ; but such rising was only admitted in order to fight 
the attacking enemy. 

' ' In the case of Loewen the town already had surrendered 
without any resistance, the town being occupied by our 
troops. Nevertheless, the population attacked on all sides 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 87 

and with a murderous fire the occupying forces and newly- 
arriving troops, which came in trains and automobiles, know- 
ing the hitherto peaceful attitude of the population. 

' ' Therefore, there can be no question of means of defense 
allowed by the law of nations, nor a warlike guetapens (am- 
bush), but only of a treacherous attempt of the civil popula- 
tion all along the line, and all the more to be condemned as 
it was apparently planned long beforehand with a simulta- 
neous attack from Antwerp, as arms were not carried openly, 
and women and young girls took part in the fight and blinded 
our wounded, sticking their eyes out. 

"severest measures justified" 

"The barbarous attitude of the Belgian population in all 
parts occupied by our troops has not only justified our sever- 
est measures, but forced them on us for the sake of self- 
preservation. The intensity of the resistance of the popu- 
lation is shown by the fact that in Loewen twenty-four hours 
were necessary to break down their attack. 

"We, ourselves, regret deeply that during these fights 
the town of Loewen has been destroyed to a great extent. 
Needless to say that these consequences are not intentional 
on our part, but cannot be avoided in this infamous franc- 
tireur war being led against us. 

"Whoever knows the good-natured character of our troops 
cannot seriously pretend that they are inclined to needless 
or frivolous destruction. 

"The entire responsibility for these events rests with 
the Belgian Government, which with criminal frivolity has 
given to the Belgian people instructions contrary to the law 
of nations and incited their resistance, and which, in spite of 
our repeated warnings, even after the fall of Luettich (Liege), 
have done nothing to induce them to a peaceful attitude." 

BELGIANS DENY CIVILIAN FIRING 

The third section of the report of the Belgian commission 
appointed to inquire into alleged breaches of international law 
by the Germans was published September 20th and denied 
the German allegation that the inhabitants of Louvain 



88 INVASION OF BELGIUM 

brought on the destruction of the town by firing on the 
Germans. It follows in part: 

' ' The inhabitants of Louvain took no part in the fighting. 
Moreover, the destruction of the town came eleven days after 
the last Belgian troops had evacuated the district. Witnesses 
declare that the first shots were fired by intoxicated German 
soldiers at their own officers. Another fact established is 
as follows: 

"A crowd of 6,000 to 8,000 men, women and children were 
taken by the One Hundred and Sixty-second Regiment of 
German Infantry August 28th to the Louvain Riding School, 
where they spent the night. The place of confinement was 
so small that all had to remain standing. The sufferings 
were so great that several children died in their mothers' 
arms and a number of women lost their reason." 

PROCLAMATION" TO CONQUERED TOWNS 

The commanders of the German troops issued a proclama- 
tion to the inhabitants of every Belgian town they occupied, 
as follows: 

"Citizens — A body of the German army under my com- 
mand has occupied your city. Inasmuch as the war is carried 
on only between the armies, I guarantee in due form the 
life and private property of all the inhabitants under the 
following conditions : 

"1. The inhabitants must strictly avoid every hostile 
act against the German troops. 

"2. Food and forage for our men and horses are to be 
furnished by the inhabitants. Every such delivery will be 
paid for at once in coin, or a receipt will be issued, to be 
redeemed after the termination of the war. 

"3. The inhabitants are to house our soldiers and horses 
in the best manner, and to keep their houses lighted at night. 

"4. The inhabitants are to put the roads in a passable 
condition, to remove all obstacles erected by the enemy and 
to give the best support to our troops in order that they 
may be able to fulfill their task, doubly difficult in a hostile 
land. I shall adopt the most stringent measures as soon as 
the above conditions are not observed. 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 89 

" Every citizen will be shot who is found with a weapon 
in his hands or committing any act whatever hostile to our 
troops." 

DAMAGE TO VILLAGES NEAR NAMUR 

The Namur newspaper, L'Ami de l'Ordre, which was for 
a time published under German censorship, gave a detailed 
summary of the buildings destroyed and the civilians killed 
in adjacent towns and villages, as follows: 

Tamines, 100 houses and 80 killed ; Gelbressee, 19 houses ; 
Franc- Waret, 16 killed; Wartel, 19 houses; Temploux, 18 
houses and 2 killed; St. Gerard, 30 houses; Oret, 50 houses 
and the town hall ; Bremer, 70 houses and 15 killed ; Ermeton- 
Sur-Biert, 85 houses ; Stare, 60 houses ; Morialme, 15 houses ; 
Cleriux, many houses and many persons ; Boussulez-Walcourt, 
54 houses; Gresnas les Courbin, almost destroyed; Mariem- 
bourg, almost destroyed; Baeswaever, many houses; Wavre, 
many houses. 

GERMAN SUCCESSES IN BELGIUM 

From the German standpoint, the invasion of Belgium 
as part of the planned march to Paris, though it met with 
unexpected resistance, was successful. The first round of 
the great international conflict ended with the honors on 
the German side, though the round was not decisive. The 
Anglo-French allies met with several serious reverses and 
the power and mobility of the German military machine was 
demonstrated. Though halted and perhaps seriously delayed 
at Liege and Namur, it "rolled back the allies' defense from 
Switzerland to the North Sea." The Belgian army, with 
French aid, kept the Germans from entering Brussels until 
August 20th and then retired behind the forts at Antwerp. 
The Kaiser's troops then overran practically all of Belgium, 
took Namur, fought back the British at Mons, forced the 
Allies south over the border at several points, and finally 
succeeded in occupying Lille, Roubaix and Valenciennes on 
the first line of French defense against invasion from the 
north. Simultaneously the French towns of Longwy and 
Luneville, to the east, were gained after severe fighting, 



90 



INVASION OF BELGIUM 



while the French invasion of Alsace-Lorraine, at first suc- 
cessful, was speedily checked. 

Thus when the first month of war ended, the Germans had 
made good with their plan of seizing Belgium as a base of 
operations against France and had arrived in full force at 
the first line of French defenses, well on the way to the 
coveted goal, Paris. 

But poor little Belgium, the " cockpit of Europe,' ' ran 
red with blood. 




"*-" s s-:~'-/-.^.:-.'-.^.^^i— -- ,SS 

THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY 



— New York Times. 



CHAPTER VI 

SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

Belgian Capital Occupied by the Germans Without Blood- 
shed — Important Part Played by American Minister 
Brand Whitlock — March of the Kaiser's Troops 
Through the City — Belgian Forces Retreat to Antwerp 
— Zeppelin Attacks on Antwerp — Dinant and Ter- 
monde Fall. 

AFTER the usual reconnaissances by Uhlans and motor- 
cycle scouts, the van of the German army arrived at 
Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, on August 20. 
The seat of government had been removed three days before 
to Antwerp. The French and Russian ministers also moved 
to Antwerp, leaving the affairs of their respective countries 
in the hands of the Spanish legation. Brand Whitlock, United 
States minister to Belgium, remained at Brussels and played 
an important part in negotiations which led to the unresisted 
occupation and march through the city by the Germans in 
force on August 21 and the consequent escape of Brussels 
from bombardment and probable ruin. 

At the approach of the German army the inhabitants of 
the capital were stricken with fear of the outcome. When the 
Belgian civic guards and refugees began pouring into the city 
from the direction of Louvain, they brought stories of un- 
speakable German atrocities, maltreatment of old men and 
children, and the violation of women. 

' 'The Belgian capital reeled with apprehension," said an 
American resident. "Within an hour the gaiety, the vivacity, 
and brilliancy of the city went out like a broken arclight. The 
radiance of the cafes was exchanged for darkness ; whispering 
groups of residents broke up hurriedly and locked themselves 
into their homes, where they put up the shutters and drew 
in their tricolored Belgian flags. 

91 



92 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

' l The historic Belgian city went through a state of morbid 
consternation, remarkably like that from which it suffered on 
June 18, 1815, when it trembled with the fear of a French vic- 
tory at Waterloo. 

"In less than twenty-four hours the Belgian citizens were 
chatting comfortably with the German invaders and the alle- 
gations of German brutality and demoniacal torture dissolved 
into one of the nryths which have accompanied all wars. 

"Neither in Brussels nor in its environs was a single of- 
fensive act, so far as I know, committed by a German soldier. 
In a city of over half a million people, invaded by a hostile 
army of perhaps a quarter of a million soldiers, no act, suf- 
ficiently flagrant to demand punishment or to awaken protest 
came to my attention. ' ' 

SUERENDER OF CITY DEMANDED 

Prior to the occupation the German commander had sent 
forward a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the city. 
This was at midnight of Wednesday, August 19. The Belgian 
commandant replied that he was bound in honor to defend 
the town. 

Brand Whitlock, the United States minister, then came to 
the fore. He recommended to the commandant and to Burgo- 
master Max the unconditional surrender of the city, pointing 
out how resistance might bring increased misfortune on the 
citizens. But the military commander remained adamant until 
orders arrived from King Albert consenting to the surrender 
of the city. 

Mr. Whitlock was later congratulated officially by the king 
for his action. Undoubtedly he had a great deal to do with 
saving Brussels. 

GERMAN MARCH A WONDERFUL SIGHT 

The German entry into Brussels was a wonderful and im- 
pressive sight. Never, probably, was there a military spec- 
tacle on so vast a scale that went on without a hitch. 

"It was impossible to believe," said an eyewitness, "that 
these men had been fighting continuously for ten days or that 
they had even been on active service. First of all came a few 
cyclists, then a detachment of cavalry; then a great mass of 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 93 

infantry; then machine guns and field guns and more infan- 
try ; then huge howitzers ; then a pontoon train and then more 
infantry from Thursday until Sunday morning without a 
break. 

' ' The pontoon trains were impressive. The pontoons were 
carried upside down on trolleys drawn by six horses. All 
cavalry horses, as well as the horses of the artillery and com- 
missary, were in wonderful condition. 

' ' The men also were very fresh and keen. Each company 
was accompanied by a traveling stove, the fire of which was 
never out. There always was some hot drink ready for the 
troops, and the German soldiers told me that it is only this hot 
coffee and soup which keeps them going on long forced 
marches. 

"The inhabitants of Brussels turned out by thousands to 
watch this endless procession of Germans as they marched, 
singing all sorts of songs and national airs. They sang in ex- 
cellent tune, one company taking up the refrain as soon as an- 
other stopped. Like everything else, their singing is organ- 
ized perfectly. 

"An aeroplane kept its station ahead of the advancing host 
and it signaled both day and night by dropping various col- 
ored stars. What these signals meant we did not know, but 
all movements of the troops were regulated by them. 

"I became overwhelmed after watching this immense mass 
of men marching by without a hitch for three days. I never 
believed such a perfect machine could exist. 

"In all about 250,000 men passed through and thousands 
more never entered the city, but marched south direct from 
Louvain. These German soldiers, many of them, marched 
thirty miles daily for six successive days. Some were so weary 
that they slept as they walked and occasionally one fell ex- 
hausted, whereupon an officer would kick and prod until he 
awoke him. The man was then given hot coffee. The men are 
slaves of discipline and routine." 

THRILLING PICTURE OF THE SCENE 

An even more vivid picture of the march of the mighty 
German host through Brussels was given by Richard Harding 



94 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

Davis, who in the New York Tribune described his impres- 
sions of the stream of armed men, rolling like fog through the 
echoing streets continuously for three days. It bore no resem- 
blance to a parade or review, for these are human things, and 
as Mr. Davis said: 

' ' The entrance of the German army into Brussels soon lost 
the human quality. It was lost as soon as the three soldiers 
who led the army bicycled into the Boulevard du Regent, and 
asked the way to the Gare du Nord. When they passed, the 
human note passed with them. 

* ' What came after them, and twenty-four hours later was 
still coming, was not men marching, but a force of nature like 
a tidal wave, an avalanche, or a river flooding its banks. At 
this minute it is rolling through Brussels as the swollen waters 
of the Conemaugh Valley swept through Johnstown. 

"At the sight of the first few regiments of the enemy we 
were thrilled with interest. After, for three hours, they had 
passed in one unbroken steel-gray column, we were bored. But 
when hour after hour passed and there was no halt, no breath- 
ing time, no open spaces in the ranks, the thing became un- 
canny, unhuman. You returned to watch it, fascinated. It 
held the mystery and menace of fog rolling toward you across 
the sea. 

THE DISGUISING GRAY-GREEN UNIFORMS 

' ' The gray of the uniforms worn by both officers and men 
helped this air of mystery. Only the sharpest eye could de- 
tect, among the thousands that passed, the slightest differ- 
ence. All moved under a cloak of invisibility. Only after the 
most numerous and severe tests at all distances, with all ma- 
terials and combinations of colors that give forth no color, 
could this gray have been discovered. That it was selected to 
clothe and disguise the German when he fights is typical of 
the German staff in striving for efficiency to leave nothing to 
chance, to neglect no detail. 

"After you have seen this service uniform under condi- 
tions entirely opposite, you are convinced that for the German 
soldier it is his strongest weapon. Even the most expert 
marksman can not hit a target he can not see. It is a gray- 
green, not the blue-gray of the American Confederates. It is 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 95 

the gray of the hour just before daybreak, the gray of unpol- 
ished steel, of mist among green trees. 

"I saw it first in the Grand Place in front of the Hotel de 
Ville. It was impossible to tell if in that noble square there 
was a regiment or a brigade. You saw only a fog that melted 
into the stones, blended with the ancient house fronts ; that 
shifted and drifted, but left you nothing at which you could 
point. 

"Later, as the army passed below my window, under the 
trees of the Botanical Park, it merged and was lost against 
the green leaves. It is no exaggeration to say that at a hun- 
dred yards you can see the horses on which the Uhlans ride, 
but can not see the men who ride them. 

"If I appear to overemphasize this disguising uniform it 
is because, of all the details of the German outfit, it appealed 
to me as one of the most remarkable. The other day, when I 
was with the rear guard of the French Dragoons and Cuiras- 
siers and they threw out pickets, we could distinguish them 
against the yellow wheat or green corn at half a mile, while 
these men passing in the street, when they have reached the 
next crossing, become merged into the gray of the paving- 
stones and the earth swallows them. In comparison, the yel- 
low khaki of our own American army is about as invisible as 
the flag of Spain. 

GERMAN EQUIPMENT MOST THOROUGH 

"Yesterday Major-General von Jarotzky, the newly- 
appointed German military governor of Brussels, assured 
Burgomaster Max that the German army would not occupy 
the city, but would pass through it. It is still passing. I have 
followed, in campaigns, six armies, but, excepting not even 
the American army, the Japanese, or the British, I have not 
seen one so thoroughly equipped. I am not speaking of the 
fighting qualities of any army, only of the equipment and 
organization. The German army moved into this city as 
smoothly and as compactly as an Empire State Express. 
There were no halts, no open places, no stragglers. 

"This army has been on active service three weeks, and 
so far there is not apparently a chin-strap or a horseshoe 
missing. It came in with the smoke pouring from cook-stoves 



96 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

on wheels, and in an hour had set up post-office wagons, from 
which mounted messengers galloped along the line of column, 
distributing letters, and at which soldiers posted picture post- 
cards. 

"The infantry came in in files of five, two hundred men to 
each company ; the Lancers in columns of four, with not a pen- 
nant missing. The quick-firing guns and field-pieces were one 
hour at a time in passing, each gun with its caisson and am- 
munition-wagon taking twenty seconds in which to pass. 

"The men of the infantry sang ' Fatherland, My Father- 
land.' Between each line of song they took three steps. At 
times two thousand men were singing together in absolute 
rhythm and beat. When the melody gave way, the silence was 
broken only by the stamp of iron-shod boots, and then again 
the song rose. When the singing ceased the bands played 
marches. They were followed by the rumble of siege-guns, 
the creaking of wheels, and of chains clanking against the 
cobblestones, and the sharp, bell-like voices of the bugles. 

"For seven hours the army passed in such solid column 
that not once might taxicab or trolley-car pass through the 
city. Like a river of steel it flowed, gray and ghostlike. Then, 
as dusk came and as thousands of horses' hoofs and thou- 
sands of iron boots continued to tramp forward, they struck 
tiny sparks from the stones, but the horses and the men who 
beat out the sparks were invisible. 

"At midnight pack-wagons and siege-guns were still pass- 
ing. At 7 this morning I was awakened by the tramp of men 
and bands playing jauntily. Whether they marched all night 
or not I do not know ; but now for twenty-six hours the gray 
army has rumbled by with the mystery of fog and the per- 
tinacity of a steam-roller." 

HISTORIC TREASURES OP BRUSSELS 

The city of Brussels, thus occupied by the Germans, con- 
tains art treasures that are priceless. The museum and pub- 
lic galleries are filled with masterpieces of the Flemish and 
old Dutch school, while the royal library comprises 600,000 
volumes, 100,000 manuscripts and 50,000 rare coins. Unques- 
tionably the Brussels Museum is one of the most complete on 
the Continent. 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 97 

A prominent historic landmark of Brussels is the King's 
House (also called the Dreadhouse), an ancient structure, re- 
cently renovated. Within its walls both the Counts Egrnont 
and Hoorn spent the last night before their execution, in 1567, 
by the hirelings of the Duke of Alva, the Spanish Philip II 's 
tyrannical governor of the Netherlands, who, by means of the 
sword and the Inquisition, sought to establish the Catholic 
religion in those countries. Brussels boasts another historic 
relic known the world over — the equestrian statue of Godfrey 
of Bouillon, who led the Crusaders to the Holy Land. It 
stands upon the Place Royale, and was unveiled in 1848. 

The magnificent Town Hall of Brussels would probably 
have suffered destruction, together with the city's other beau- 
tiful buildings, had not the government yielded without a 
struggle. 

HEAVY WAR TAX LEVIED 

General von der Goltz, appointed by the Kaiser military 
governor of Belgium, levied a war tax of $40,000,000 on the 
capture of the capital. Other cities occupied by the Germans 
were also assessed for large sums, which in several instances 
had to be paid immediately on pain of bombardment. It was 
announced September 1 that the four richest men in Belgium 
had guaranteed the payment to Germany of the war tax. The 
four men were Ernest Solvay, the alkali king; Baron Lam- 
bert, the Belgian representative of the Rothschilds; Raoul 
Warocque, the mine owner, and Baron Empain, the railway 
magnate. 

BELGIANS RETREAT TO ANTWERP 

After the German occupation almost normal conditions 
were soon restored in Brussels, so far as civic life was con- 
cerned. It was speedily announced that the Germans intended 
to regard the whole of Belgium as a German province and to 
administer it as such, at least during the continuance of the 
war. The Belgian army retired to the north within the forti- 
fications of Antwerp, where they were joined by French 
troops, but desultory fighting against the German invader 
continued at many points and the Franco-British allies soon 
came into contact with the advancing German army and dis- 



98 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

putecl its progress along the Mons-Charleroi line to the south 
of Brussels, as related in a subsequent chapter. 

The retreat of the Belgian forces to Antwerp has been 
pronounced by military experts to have been a masterly piece 
of precaution and strategy. It is said that nothing could have 
been wiser than to forsake the unfortified town of Brussels, 
and to become intrenched in a city like that of Antwerp, which 
was surrounded by a strong series of almost unassailable re- 
doubts. Moreover, with the establishment of the Belgian 
headquarters at this point of defense the people of Holland 
are said to have felt their neutrality was more than ever safe- 
guarded and assured. The Paris Figaro said : 

"By the encampment of a large force of European allies 
on the northwest of Belgium the safety of Holland is more 
than ever assured. Holland is a country which depends alto- 
gether upon the support and the neutral policy of adjacent 
monarchies, hence the relief which was experienced by the 
Queen of Holland when forces of France and Belgium took up 
their position as a kind of outpost in Antwerp. Antwerp is 
very well protected by fortifications, against which the Ger- 
man cavalry will throw themselves in vain.'* 

ZEPPELIN ATTACK ON ANTWEEP 

The first German demonstration against Antwerp took the 
form of a night attack on the sleeping city, August 24-25, by a 
Zeppelin airship, which dropped eight bombs. The result, 
according to the dispatches, was the killing of seven civilians, 
four of whom were women, the wounding of eight others, and 
the damaging of many buildings. Much indignation was ex- 
pressed over this slaughter of non-combatants in their sleep, 
and the Belgian Government determined to make it an inter- 
national issue on the ground that the attack constituted a vio- 
lation of Article XXVI of the Fourth Convention of The 
Hague. This article provides that "the officer in command 
of an attacking force must, before commencing a bombard- 
ment, except in cases of assault, do all in his power to warn 
the authorities." The New York Staats-Zeitung, however, 
maintained that this was ' ' a hypocritical cry of protest, ' ' and 
declared that, if the bombs had fallen on Berlin or Strasburg 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 99 

instead of Antwerp, ''the matter would be dismissed with the 
statement that such is war." 

ANOTHER ZEPPELIN ATTACK 

The night of September 2 was signalized by a second Zep- 
pelin attack on Antwerp. Several bombs were thrown and 
considerable damage done. 

William G. Shepherd, staff correspondent of the United 
Press at Antwerp, forwarded an interesting description of the 
attack. He said: 

" Before this war, experts used to say perfection of terri- 
ble instruments of killing would only tend to make war im- 
possible. It doesn't do that, though. I watched the Zeppelin 
dropping bombs upon Antwerp last night, and such perfection 
only makes war more terrible, with a refinement of barbarism. 
As I saw the Zeppelin depart it seemed that the best argument 
against war was that it turned men into such merciless de- 
mons as these Zeppelin murderers. 

"The wildest flights of imagination couldn't approach 
what happened in Antwerp twelve hours ago. Early in the 
evening a Belgian captain took me the rounds of his company 
stationed in the center of the city. His men were divided into 
small squads in a dozen streets. 

"They were sitting on the sidewalks with their backs 
against the building walls, drinking hot coffee, which had been 
brought to them in an automobile. It seemed that his men 
were pretty well spread out in case of an attack by the Ger- 
mans, but the captain said there were 30,000 soldiers scat- 
tered over the city in the same way. Later the reason was 
apparent. 

1 ' Not until 1 o 'clock in the morning did the big red harvest 
moon begin to sink. It left the streets in pitch darkness. The 
city was so tranquil and still that the crackle of the dry au- 
tumn leaves which had fallen from the elms in the public 
square seemed noise. It was chilly, too, and the soldiers on 
the sidewalks were wrapped up in their big overcoats, and 
too drowsy or too comfortable to challenge. 

AWAKENED BY SOLDIERS 

"An hour and a half later I was awakened by soldiers 
talking excitedly in the street beneath my window. But above 



100 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

the sound of their voices was another noise, a terrific whir- 
ring, high in the air. I jumped from bed, rushed to the win- 
dow and looked upward. There was a terrific explosion, far 
away, a deep booming roar. A moment later a spark came 
whirling and circling through the air like a shooting star gone 
mad. It sank into the skyline of roofs and another explosion 
boomed out. 

"And then up against the stars I saw the Zeppelin, per- 
haps a mile high and out over the outskirts of the town. 

"Another spark fell and there was a third explosion. Then 
a new sound filled the air. It began far away. It was the 
rattle of rifles — thousands of them. The firing grew nearer 
and louder. There were sharp orders. Under my window 
the soldiers began to shoot, the flashes lighting my room. 
They held their rifles straight upward. The sound grew 
louder and louder. Within a minute the din was indescrib- 
able. 

30,000 MEN SHOOTING 

"Thirty thousand soldiers were shooting, each as fast as 
he could fire with his magazine rifle. The orders were not to 
try to hit the Zeppelin unless it was overhead. Every man's 
duty was to shoot straight up. 

"They were filling the air with steel. They were putting 
up a fence of metal a mile high around the city and palace. 
They filled the air with death to anything that entered the 
zone above Antwerp. The big guns in the forts around the city 
began to boom. Aeroplane machine guns mounted on auto- 
mobiles dashed about the streets, adding their burring, rat- 
tling sound to the din. 

"In the midst of it all there were eight more of the big 
bass booms, the voice of the Zeppelin bombs, in quick succes- 
sion. To the last, in the midst of the bullets and superhuman 
confusion, the supermen in the Zeppelin had tried to stick to 
the job. Two of the eight bombs fell within twenty and thirty 
meters of the Red Cross hospitals; the other six beat a Gar- 
gantuan tattoo on the field around the wireless station, which 
the airmen were evidently trying to destroy. The holes in the 
earth about the station were each the size and shape of a cis- 
tern. 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 101 

"Ten minutes of firing had made the Antwerp sky un- 
healthful. 

"As the last batch of bombs went over the sides of the car 
the balloon arose and sped away from the city. 

"The firing died out slowly. Half an hour later the Zep- 
pelin was reported at a point twelve miles away. Two chil- 
dren, three women and five men had been injured — though 
none seriously — and three houses destroyed. Nearly all the 
terrified families of the city had taken refuge in the cellars, 
for a week before the same Zeppelin had bombarded the town 
and killed several persons. The bullets fired by the soldiers 
came falling from the sky, but aside from breaking skylights 
they caused no injury. Folks going to work this morning 
picked them up for souvenirs." 

During the month of September there were also several 
cavalry and artillery attacks on Antwerp, but these were as a 
rule easily repulsed by the forts and their Belgian defenders. 



THE CITY AND PORT OF ANTWERP 

Antwerp is one of the largest, most modernly equipped and 
efficient ports in Europe. It is only a short distance across 
the English Channel, and is the head of 1,200 miles of canals 
in Belgium which connect with the canal systems of Holland, 
France and Germany. On the harbor alone over $100,000,000 
has been spent and extensions are in progress which will cost 
$15,000,000 more. 

For the prosperity of Belgium, Antwerp is many times 
more important than Brussels, the capital. While the country 
has an enormous amount of coal and many factories and other 
industries, these would be of little value without the imports 
which enter through Antwerp. 

The city has about 360,000 inhabitants. Although located 
fifty-three miles inland on the Scheldt River, it has natural 
advantages for harbor purposes which have been recognized 
since the seventh century. Napoleon looked over the spot and 
started large harbor construction. 

LEGEND OF THE GIANT 

The origin of the first inhabitants of the city is unknown, 
but their commercial nature makes itself manifest in the se- 



102 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 



lection of the city site, and this nature seems to have been 
transmitted to those who now operate the port. 

In all of the jewelry shops of Antwerp can be found sou- 
venir spoons of the hand of a man. The legend goes that long 
years ago a terrible giant levied a tax on all goods going up 
or coming down the river, to half the value of the goods. He 
cut off and threw into the River Scheldt the right hand of any 
person who infringed this tariff. The souvenir spoons relate 




ANTWERP AND ITS FORTIFICATIONS 



to this old yarn. In addition the Flemish word "antwerpen" 
is supposed to have originated in the word for hand and the 
word "werpen," to throw. 

A lieutenant under Julius Caesar is said to have gone to 
Antwerp and engaged the terrible giant in a battle. The 
giant's head was ordered severed from his body, and his hand 
was cut off and thrown into the river. This fable is incor- 
porated in a statue that stands opposite the town hall in Ant- 
werp. 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 103 

Ever since that time, according to popular belief, Antwerp 
has encouraged commerce. Over eighty different steamboat 
lines use the docks and quays. The passenger lines include 
boats to New York and Boston, New Orleans, London, Liv- 
erpool, Manchester, Grimsby, South American ports, Cuba, 
the Congo, East and South Africa and the far East. 

In 1912 a total of 6,973 ocean-going vessels entered the 
port, and 41,000 other vessels. 

Antwerp in 1870 ranked fifth in the ports of the world. 
Today it is believed to be second or third. Ten years ago the 
freight received from the inland was principally by the canals. 
Approximately 2,300,000 tons were received by rail and 5,500,- 
000 tons by canal boats. 

This ratio has not been maintained, but the canal traffic 
now is much larger than the rail tonnage. This gives an idea 
of the extensive use to which the European countries put their 
canals, and the reader may guess the value of the city at the 
head of the canal system to the Germans. 



BLOODLESS CAPITULATION OF GHENT 

Historic Ghent, with its quarter of a million inhabitants, 
was also surrendered peaceably to the Germans, and again 
the energy and initiative of an American, United States Vice- 
Consul J. A. Van Hee, had much to do with the avoidance of 
tragedy and destruction. 

Learning that the advance guard of the German army was 
only a few miles outside the city, the burgomaster went out 
on the morning of September 8 to parley with Gen. von 
Boehn — in the hope of arranging for the German forces not 
to enter. An agreement finally was reached whereby the Ger- 
mans should go around Ghent on condition that all Belgian 
troops should evacuate the city, the civic guard be disarmed, 
their weapons surrendered, and the municipal authorities 
should supply the Germans with specified quantities of pro- 
visions and other supplies. 

The burgomaster was not back an hour when a motor car 
driven by two armed German soldiers appeared in the streets. 

At almost the same moment that the German car entered 



104 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

the city from the south a Belgian armored car, armed with a 
machine gun, with a crew of three men, entered from the east 
on a scouting expedition. 

The two cars, both speeding, encountered each other at 
the head of the Rue Agneau, directly in front of the American 
consulate. Vice-consul Van Hee, standing in the doorway, 
was an eyewitness to what followed. 

The Germans, taken completely by surprise at the sight of 
the foe's grim war car in its coat of elephant gray, bearing 
down upon them, attempted to escape, firing with their car- 
bines as they fled. Notwithstanding the fact that the side- 
walks were lined with onlookers, the Belgians opened on the 
fleeing Germans with their machine guns, which spurted lead 
as a garden hose spurts water. 

The driver, fearing the Germans might escape, swerved 
his powerful car against the German motor precisely as a 
polo player ' ' rides off ' ' his opponent. The machine gun never 
ceased its angry snarl. 

The Germans surrendered, both being wounded. 

Appreciating that Ghent stood in imminent danger of 
meeting the terrible fate of its sister cities, Aerschot and 
Louvain, sacked and burned for far less cause, Mr. Van Hee 
hurriedly found the burgomaster and urged him to go along 
instantly to German headquarters. 

They found General von Boehn and his staff at a chateau 
a few miles outside the city. The German commander at 
first was furious with anger and threatened Ghent with the 
same punishment he had meted out to the other places where 
Germans were fired on. Van Hee took a very firm stand, 
however. He told the general the burning of Ghent would do 
more than anything else to lose the Germans all American 
sympathy. He reminded him that Americans have a great 
sentimental interest in Ghent because the treaty of peace be- 
tween England and the United States was signed there just a 
century ago. 

The general finally said: "If you will give me your word 
that there will be no further attacks upon Germans in Ghent, 
and that the wounded soldiers will be taken under American 
protection and returned to Brussels by the consular authori- 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 105 

ties when they have recovered, I will agree to spare Ghent and 
will not even demand a money indemnity. ' ' 

The news that Mr. Van Hee had succeeded in his mission 
spread through the city like fire in dry grass and when he re- 
turned he was acclaimed by cheering crowds as tne saviour of 
Ghent. 

THE BURGOMASTEE 's APPEAL 

Blazoned on the front of the Town Hall suddenly ap- 
peared a great black-lettered document. It was a manly and 
inspiring proclamation by the burgomaster, similar to the 
splendid proclamation issued by M. Adolphe Max, burgomas- 
ter of Brussels, just before the German entry. He assured the 
inhabitants that he and all the town officials were remaining 
in their places, and that so long as life and liberty remained 
to him he would do all in his power to protect their honor 
and their interests. He reminded them that under the laws of 
war they had the right to refuse all information and help to 
the invaders ; and called upon each citizen, or his wife, to 
refuse such information and help. Finally, he urged the citi- 
zens to remain calm, and stay in their homes. 

"Vive la Belgique! Vive Ghent!" The proclamation 
ended in great capitals with this patriotic cry. 

DINANT AND TERMONDE FALL 

But other cities and towns of Belgium were not as for- 
tunate as Brussels and Ghent in escaping damage and de- 
struction. 

Dinant, a town of 8,000 inhabitants, fifteen miles south of 
Namur, and dating back to the sixth century, was partially 
destroyed by the Germans in their advance on September 3 
and 4. Early reports stated that a number of the most promi- 
nent citizens had been executed, including Mr. Humbert, 
owner of a large factory, who was slain in the presence of his 
wife and children. 

The Germans alleged that citizens had fired on them from 
the heights about the city. They then drove all of the inhabi- 
tants out, shot some of the men as examples, took the gold 
from the branch of the National Bank and burned the business 
section. 



106 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

On September 4 the town of Termonde met a similar fate. 
This town, 16 miles from Ghent, was fired in several places 
before the Kaiser's troops passed on. They also blew up a 
bridge over the River Escaut to the north, seeming to re- 
nounce for the moment their intrusion into the country of the 
Waes district. Afterward they directed an attack against the 
southwest front position of the Antwerp army and were re- 
pulsed with great losses. 

Describing the burning of Termonde by the Germans, a 
Ghent correspondent said : 

"By midday Sunday the blaze had assumed gigantic pro- 
portions and by Sunday evening not a house stood upright. 
This was verified at Zele, where there were thousands of refu- 
gees from Termonde. The Germans also pillaged Zele. The 
suburb of St. Giles also suffered from bombardment and fire. ' ' 

A courier who knew Termonde as a flourishing town with 
fine shops, an ancient town hall of singular beauty and a num- 
ber of churches of historic interest, found the place on Sep- 
tember 11 a smoldering ruin, except for the town hall and one 
church, on a stone of which he saw the inscription "1311." 
These two structures were left intact, without so much as a 
broken window. 

Termonde was burned for much the same reason as Lou- 
vain. On September 4 a German force came back from the 
field after having been severely handled by the Belgians, and 
the German commander, it is said, exclaimed: 

" It is our duty to burn them down ! ' ' 

The inhabitants were given two hours ' grace, and German 
soldiers filed through the town, breaking windows with their 
rifles. They were followed by other files of troops, who 
sprayed kerosene into the houses, others applied lighted fuses 
and the town was systematically destroyed. 

BOMBARDMENT OF MALINES 

On Thursday night, August 27, the German artillery bom- 
barded the ancient Belgian town of Malines. During the bom- 
bardment many of the monuments in the town were hit by 
shells and destroyed. When the artillery had ceased firing 
the inhabitants of Malines were advised to leave the town, 



SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 107 

and many of the refugees, including a number of priests in 
civilian dress, spent the night in the church at Duffel. 
Amongst the damaged buildings were the Hotel de Ville, the 
Courts of Justice, the Church of St. Pierre, and the Cathe- 
dral of St. Rombold. The Church of St. Pierre was totally 
destroyed, but the tower of the cathedral remained intact. 
The famous peal of bells, however, was destroyed during the 
earlier stages of the bombardment. 

The town of Malines had a population of 55,000 inhabi- 
tants. Its history goes back a very long way. In 915 it came 
under the rule of the Bishops of Liege, and it is still regarded 
as the ecclesiastical capital of Belgium; in 1332 it was pur- 
chased by the Count of Flanders. Malines is well known to 
all tourists for its ancient buildings, some of them of the 
utmost beauty and dignity. The Cathedral of St. Rombold 
is a cruciform Gothic church with a tower 324 feet in height. 

SCENES AT CARTENBARG, BELGIUM 

Mr. A. J. Dawe, a prisoner of war and eyewitness of 
scenes at Cartenbarg, just north of Brussels, thus described 
the sights he saw there on August 28 : 

"For three terrible hours we had to stand watching the 
destruction. The Germans who were guarding us told us 
that from certain houses shots had been fired by the civilians 
during the morning upon a passing German troop, and that 
several Uhlans had been killed. They began upon the houses 
from which the shots were supposed to have been fired. These 
houses were soon spitting with fire and shooting up great 
flames. Here and there the fire soon spread along the whole 
street. The women and children were herded together and 
set aside. We heard the quick sounds of rifleshots as the es- 
caping civilians were picked off. It was a terrible and brutal 
business — we had not yet seen Louvain, and to us it was our 
first experience of the real horrors of war. ' ' 

DESOLATION IN BELGIUM 

Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, Belgium, when 
in Rome attending the conclave that elected Pope Benedict 
XV as successor to the lamented Pius X, whose death on Au- 
gust 19 was partly due to grief over the war, gave out an in- 



108 SURRENDER OF BRUSSELS 

terview in which his eminence painted a terrible picture of the 
miseries suffered by his unhappy country as a result of the 
German invasion. 

"I can't shut my eyes without seeing again the bodies of 
the Belgians," said the cardinal. "Desolated towns, villages 
and blood everywhere. I wanted to stay among my priests 
and remain with the holocaust of innocent victims of the sav- 
agery of the Germans. 

"As I traveled through Belgium the spectacle of its un- 
happiness seemed to bear me back to my devastated Malines, 
to the side of my king and my suffragan of Liege, today a hos- 
tage, tomorrow, perhaps, a martyr. All along the roads I 
could see unburied bodies mingled with the carcasses of 
horses, and I could recognize some of the faces. 

"What has taken place in Belgium is not war, but the out- 
come of hate. The Germans are taking their revenge for the 
stigma attached to them as violators of neutral territory. 

"In undefended towns, after having bombarded the houses 
they have given the churches to the flames and have used the 
wooden statues on the altars as torches to light them to their 
deeds of blood. In Malines, a peaceable and undefended 
town, they made a target of the Church of St. Rombold. 

"These bomb-carrying Germans wanted to strike at the 
head of Belgium ; they wished to raze to the ground the Bel- 
gians ' intellectual capital, throwing into flames alike the 
contents of laboratories and libraries. Ought not the word 
'Droit,' ('Right') standing out in letters of gold on the old 
buildings, to have made them shudder? 

"German deeds in Belgium have nothing to do with war 
either in the old days of chivalry or in its modern and historic 
form. 

"When the lake of blood left by the Germans in Belgium 
has dried up it will be necessary to look for a slab of stone 
large enough to be a record of these crimes against the rights 
alike of Heaven and humanity. ' ' 



CHAPTER VII 

AT THE GERMAN FRONT 

Remarkable Story by American War Correspondent of His 
Visit to Gen. von Boehn's Headquarters in the Field — 
The German Fighting Machine — The General's Ver- 
sion of Alleged German Atrocities. 

ONE of the most vivid descriptions of the German army in 
the field was sent from the headquarters of the Ninth 
Imperial army at Chateau Lafere, near Renaix, Bel- 
gium, by Mr. E. Alexander Powell, war correspondent of the 
New York World, whose facile pen presented not only a re- 
markable panoramic picture of the German fighting machine 
as it rolled before his eyes, but also gave General von Boehn's 
version of the atrocities alleged to have been committed by 
the German troops in several of the smaller towns and cities 
of Belgium. Mr. Powell's thrilling story is of historic inter- 
est and read as follows : 

Three weeks ago the government of Belgium requested me 
to place before the American people a list of specific and au- 
thenticated atrocities committed by the German armies upon 
Belgian noncombatants. 

Today (September 9) General von Boehn, commanding 
the Ninth Imperial Field Army, acting mouthpiece of the 
German general staff, has asked me to place before the Amer- 
ican people the German version of the incidents in question. 

So far as I am aware I am the only correspondent in the 
present war who has motored for an entire day through the 
ranks of the advancing German army, who has dined as a 
guest of the German army commander and his staff, and who 

109 



110 AT THE GERMAN FRONT 

has had the progress of the army on the march arrested in 
order to obtain photographs of the German troops. 

This unusual experience came about in a curious and 
roundabout way. After an encounter in the streets of Ghent 
last Tuesday between a German military automobile and a 
Belgian armored car, in which two German soldiers were 
wounded [as described in the preceding chapter], American 
Vice Consul Van Hee persuaded the burgomaster to accom- 
pany him immediately to the headquarters of General von 
Boehn to explain the circumstances and ask that the city 
should not be held responsible for the unfortunate affair. 

In the course of the conversation with Mr. Van Hee, Gen- 
eral von Boehn remarked that copies of papers containing 
articles written by Alexander Powell criticizing the German 
treatment of the Belgian civil population had come to his 
attention and said he regretted he could not have an oppor- 
tunity to talk with Powell and give him the German version. 

Mr. Van Hee said that by a fortunate coincidence I hap- 
pened to be in Ghent, whereupon the general asked him to 
bring me out to dinner the following day, and issued a safe 
conduct through the German lines. 

TAKES AN AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER 

Though nothing was said about a photographer, I took 
with me Photographer Donald Thompson. As there was some 
doubt regarding the propriety of taking a Belgian military 
driver into the German lines, I drove the car myself. 

Before we passed the city limits of Ghent things began 
to happen. Entering a street, which leads through a section 
inhabited by the working classes, we found ourselves in the 
midst of a mob of several thousand excited Flemings. Above 
the sea of threatening arms, brandished sticks, and angry 
faces rose the figures of two German soldiers with carbines 
slung across their backs, mounted on work horses. It seems 
they had strayed into the city by mistake. 

As we approached a burly Belgian raised a cane and the 
crowd made a concerted rush for the Germans. A blast from 
my siren opened a lane through the crowd and I drove the car 
alongside the terrified Germans. 



AT THE GERMAN FRONT 111 

"Quick," shouted Van Hee in German, "off your horses. 
Into the car. Hide your rifles. Sit on the floor. Keep out of 
sight. ' ' 

The crowd, seeing its prey escaping, surged around us 
with a roar. For an instant things looked ticklish indeed. 

Van Hee jumped on the seat. 

"I am American consul," he shouted. "These men 
are under my protection. You civilians are attacking German 
soldiers in uniform. If a hair of these men's heads is harmed 
your city will be burned about your ears." 

At that moment a Belgian shouldered his way through the 
crowd and leaped on the running board. Quick as a thought 
Thompson knocked up the man's hand and the same instant 
I threw on the power. The big car leaped forward like a 
startled horse, the mob scattering like autumn leaves be- 
fore it. 

It was a close call for every one concerned, but a much 
closer call for Ghent, for had those German soldiers been 
murdered by the civilians in the city streets no power on 
earth could have saved the city from vengeance. General 
von Boehn told me so himself. 

HELP FOR U. S. REFUGEES 

A few minutes later, as playlets follow each other in quick 
succession on the stage, the scene changed from tragedy to a 
screaming farce. As we came thundering into the little town 
of Sotteghem in a sleepy hollow of Belgium, we saw in the 
center of the town square a pyramid at least ten feet high of 
wardrobe trunks, steamer trunks, and suitcases. From the 
summit of this extraordinary monument floated an American 
flag. 

As our car came to a sudden halt there was a chorus of 
exclamations in all dialects from Maine to Southern Cali- 
fornia and from the door of a nearby cafe there came pouring 
a flood of Americans. They proved to be a lost detachment 
of that great army of tourists which at the beginning of hos- 
tilities started its mad retreat for the coast, leaving Europe 
strewn with baggage. 

This particular detachment had been caught at Brussels 
and as food supplies were running short they determined to 



112 AT THE GERMAN FRONT 

make a dash for Ostend. Perhaps " crawl" would be a better 
word, for they made the journey as far as Sotteghem in two 
cumbersome farm wagons. Upon reaching Sotteghem the 
Belgian drivers, hearing that the German army was approach- 
ing, refused to go farther and unceremoniously dumped their 
passengers in the town square. 

When we arrived they had been there twenty-four 
hours. It was a mixed assemblage. Two school teachers, 
women of fashion, a Pennsylvania farmer, and a quartet of 
professional tango dancers from San Francisco, who had 
been doing a turn at the Palais du Danse in Brussels, were 
in the crowd. 

Van Hee and I skirmished about, and after much argument 
succeeded in getting two farm carts to transport the fugitives 
into Ghent. For the thirty-mile journey the thrifty peasants 
demanded $80. 

The last I saw of the refugees they were perched on top 
of the luggage, piled on two creaking carts, rumbling down 
the road to Ghent, with their huge American flag flying above 
them, and singing at the top of their voices, "We'll never go 
there any more. ' ' 

MILES OF GERMAN SOLDIERS 

Half a mile out of Sotteghem our road debouched into the 
great highway which leads through Lille to Paris. We sud- 
denly found ourselves in the midst of the German army. It 
was a sight never to be forgotten. Far as the eye could see 
stretched solid columns of marching men, pressing westward, 
ever westward. 

The army was advancing in three mighty columns along 
three parallel roads. These dense masses of moving men in 
their elusive blue-gray uniforms looked for all the world like 
three monstrous serpents crawling across the countryside. 

American flags which fluttered from our windshield 
proved a passport in themselves and as we approached the 
close-locked ranks they parted to let us through. 

For five solid hours, traveling always at express train 
speed, we motored between the walls of the marching men. 
In time the constant shuffle of boots and the rhythmic swing 
of gray-clad arms and shoulders grew maddening and I be- 



AT THE GERMAN FRONT 113 

came obsessed with the fear that I would send the car plowing 
into the human wedge on either side. 

It seemed that the ranks never would end, and as far as 
we were concerned they never did, for we never saw or heard 
the end of that mighty column. 

We passed regiment after regiment, brigade after brigade, 
of infantry, and after them hussars, Uhlans, cuirassiers, field 
batteries, more infantry, more field guns, ambulances, then 
siege guns, each drawn by thirty horses, engineers, telephone 
corps, pontoon wagons, armored motor cars, more Uhlans, the 
sunlight gleaming on their forest of lances, more infantry in 
spiked helmets, all sweeping by as irresistible as a mighty 
river, with their faces turned toward France. 

This was the Ninth field army and composed the very 
flower of the empire, including the magnificent troops of the 
Imperial Guard. It was first and last a fighting army. The 
men were all young. They struck me as being keen as razors 
and as hard as nails. The horses were magnificent. They 
could not have been better. The field guns of the Imperial 
Guard were almost twice the size of any used by our army. 

THIRTY-TWO HOESES DRAW ONE GIANT HOWITZER 

But the most interesting of all, of course, were the five gi- 
gantic howitzers, each drawn by sixteen pairs of horses. 
These howitzers can tear a city to pieces at a distance of a 
dozen miles. 

Every contingency seems to have been foreseen. Nothing 
was left to chance or overlooked. Maps of Belgium, with 
which every soldier is provided, are the finest examples of 
topography I have ever seen. Every path, every farm build- 
ing, every clump of trees, and every twig is shown. 

At one place a huge army wagon containing a complete 
printing press was drawn up beside the road and a morning 
edition of the Deutsche Krieger Zeitung (German War News) 
was being printed and distributed to the passing men. It 
contained nothing but accounts of German victories of which 
I never had heard, but it seemed greatly to cheer the men. 

Field kitchens with smoke pouring from their stovepipe 
funnels rumbled down the lines, serving steaming soup and 



114 AT THE GERMAN FRONT 

coffee to the marching men, who held out tin cups and had 
them filled without once breaking step. 

There were wagons filled with army cobblers, sitting 
cross-legged on the floor, who were mending soldiers' shoes 
just as if they were back in their little shops in the Father- 
land. Other wagons, to all appearances ordinary two-wheeled 
farm carts, hid under their arched canvas covers machine 
guns which could instantly be brought into action. 

The medical corps was as magnificent as businesslike. It 
was as perfectly equipped and as efficient as a great city hos- 
pital. 

Men on bicycles with a coil of insulated wire slung be- 
tween them strung a field telephone from tree to tree so the 
general commanding could converse with any part of the 
fifty -mile-long column. 

The whole army never sleeps. When half is resting the 
other half is advancing. The soldiers are treated as if they 
were valuable machines which must be speeded up to the high- 
est possible efficiency. Therefore, they are well fed, well 
shod, well clothed, and worked as a negro teamster works 
mules. 

SOLDIER GIVEN TERRIFIC BEATING 

Only men who are well cared for can march thirty-five miles 
a day week in and week out. Only once did I see a man mis- 
treated. A sentry on duty in front of the general headquar- 
ters failed to salute an officer with sufficient promptness, 
whereupon the officer lashed him again and again across the 
face with a riding whip. Though welts rose with every blow, 
the soldier stood rigidly at attention and never quivered. 

As we were passing a German outpost a sentry ran out and 
signaled us : 

"Are you Americans ?" 

"We are," I said. 

"Then I have orders to take you to the commandant," 
he said. 

"But I am on my way to see General von Boehn. I have 
a pass signed by the general himself," I said. 

"No matter," the man stubbornly insisted, "you must 
come with me to the commander. He has so ordered. " 




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Draw* by F. Mntanln f»r The Sphere. 



AT THE GERMAN FRONT 115 

So there was nothing for it but to go with the soldier. He 
had a most compelling way about him. We had visions of 
prison cells, courts-martial, and firing parties, though we tried 
to laugh it off. We found the commandant and his officers 
quartered at a farmhouse a few rods down the road. He 
proved to be a stout, florid faced, boisterous captain of in- 
fantry. 

"I'm sorry to delay you," he said, "but I ordered the 
sentries to stop the first American car that passed along the 
road. I have a brother in America and I want to send a letter 
to him to let him know that all is well with me. You will send 
it to him?" 

[Of course the promise was made and Mr. Powell was then 
permitted to proceed.] 

FINALLY REACHES GENERAL VON BOEHN 

It was considerably past midday and we were within a 
few miles of the French frontier when we saw a guidon, which 
signifies the presence of the head of the army, planted at the 
entrance of a splendid old chateau. As we passed through the 
iron gates and whirled up the stately tree-lined drive and 
drew up in front of the terrace, a dozen officers in staff uni- 
form came running out to meet us. For a few minutes it felt 
as if we were being welcomed at a country house in America 
instead of at the headquarters of the German army in the 
field. So perfect was the field telephone service that the staff 
had been able to keep in touch with our progress along the 
lines and were waiting dinner for us. 

General von Boehn I found to be a red-faced, gray-mus- 
tached, jovial old warrior who seemed much worried for fear 
we were not getting enough to eat, particularly not enough to 
drink. He explained that the Belgian owners of the chateau 
had displayed bad taste to run away and take their servants 
with them, leaving only one bottle of champagne in the cellar. 
That bottle was good as far as it went, however. 

Nearly all of the officers spoke English and during the 
meal the conversation was all of the United States, for one 
of them had been attached to the embassy at Washington and 
another had attended the army school at Fort Riley, Kansas. 



116 AT THE GERMAN FRONT 

After dinner we grouped ourselves on the terrace in the 
self-conscious attitude people always assume when having 
their pictures taken, and Thompson made some photographs. 
They probably are the only ones of a German general and 
an American war correspondent who was not under arrest. 

Then we gathered about the table, on which was spread 
a staff map of the war area, and got down to serious business. 
The general began by asserting that the stories of atrocities 
perpetrated on Belgian noncombatants were a tissue of lies. 

"Look at these officers about you," he said. "They are 
gentlemen like yourself. Look at the soldiers marching past 
in the road out there. Most of them are fathers of families. 
Surely you don 't believe they would do the things they have 
been accused of." 

EXPLAINS AERSCHOT CRIMES 

"Three days ago, general," I said, "I was in Aerschot. 
The whole town now is but a ghastly, blackened, blood-stained 
ruin. ' ' 

"When we entered Aerschot the son of the burgomaster 
came into the room, drew a revolver, and assassinated my 
chief of staff," the general said. "What followed was only 
retribution. The townspeople only got what they deserved. ' ' 

' ' But why wreak your vengeance on women and children 1 ' ' 

"None has been killed," the general asserted positively. 

"I am sorry to contradict you, general," I asserted with 
equal positiveness, "but I have myself seen their mutilated 
bodies. So has Mr. Ginson, secretary of the American lega- 
tion at Brussels, who was present during the destruction of 
Louvain." 

1 * Of course, there always is danger of women and children 
being killed during street fighting," said Gen. von Boehn, "if 
they insist on coming into the street. It is unfortunate, but 
it is war." 

INFORMATION STARTLES THE GENERAL 

"But how about a woman's body I saw, with her hands 
and feet cut off? How about a white-haired man and his son 
whom I helped bury outside Sempstad, who had been killed 
merely because a retreating Belgian had shot a German sol- 



AT THE GERMAN FRONT 117 

dier outside their house? There were twenty-two bayonet 
wounds on the old man's face. I counted them. How about 
the little girl 2 years old who was shot while in her mother's 
arms by a Uhlan, and whose funeral I attended at Beystop- 
denberg? How about the old man who was. hung from the 
rafters in his house by his hands and roasted to death by a 
bonfire being built under him?" 

The general seemed somewhat taken aback by the amount 
and exactness of my data. 

"Such things are horrible, if true," he said. "Of course 
our soldiers, like soldiers of all armies, sometimes get out of 
hand and do things which we would never tolerate if we knew 
it. At Louvain, for example, I sentenced two soldiers to 
twelve years' penal servitude apiece for assaulting a woman." 

THE LOUVAIN LIBRARY INCIDENT 

"Apropos of Louvain," I remarked, "why did you de- 
stroy the library? It was one of the literary storehouses of 
the world." 

"We regretted that as much as any one else," answered 
the general. "It caught fire from burning houses and we 
could not save it." 

"But why did you burn Louvain at all?" I asked. 

"Because the townspeople fired on our troops. We actu- 
ally found machine guns in some of the houses." And smash- 
ing his fist down on the table, he continued : ' ' Whenever civi- 
lians fire upon our troops we will teach them a lasting les- 
son. If women and children insist on getting in the way of 
bullets, so much the worse for the women and children." 

"How do you explain the bombardment of Antwerp by 
Zeppelins ? " I queried. 

EXPLAINS THE ZEPPELIN BOMBS 

"Zeppelins have orders to drop their bombs only on forti- 
fications and soldiers, ' ' he answered. 

"As a matter of fact," I remarked, "they only destroyed 
private houses and civilians, several of them women. If one 
of those bombs had dropped 200 yards nearer my hotel I 
wouldn't be smoking one of your excellent cigars today." 

"That is a calamity which I thank God didn't happen." 



118 AT THE GERMAN FRONT 

"If you feel for my safety as deeply as that, general," I 
said earnestly, ' ' you can make quite sure of my coming to no 
harm by sending no more Zeppelins." 

"Well," he said, laughing, "we will think about it." He 
continued gravely: 

"I trust you will tell the American people what I have 
told you today. Let them hear our side of this atrocity busi- 
ness. It is only justice that they should be made familiar with 
both sides of the question. ' ' 

I have quoted my conversation with the general as nearly 
verbatim as I can remember it. I have no comment to make: 
I will leave it to my readers to decide for themselves just 
how convincing are the answers of the German general staff 
to the Belgian accusations. 

PHOTOGRAPHS GERMAN ARMY 

Before we began our conversation I asked the general if 
Mr. Thompson might be permitted to take photographs of the 
great army passing. Five minutes later Thompson was 
whirled away in a military motor car ciceroned by the army 
officer who had attended our army school at Fort Riley. It 
seems they stopped the car beside the road in a place where 
the light was good, and when Thompson saw approaching a 
regiment or battery of which he wished a picture he would 
tell the officer, whereupon the officer would blow his whistle, 
and the whole column would halt. 

"Just wait a few minutes until the dust settles," Thomp- 
son would remark, nonchalantly lighting a cigaret, and the 
Ninth Imperial Army, whose columns stretched over the 
countryside as far as the eye could see, would stand in its 
tracks until the air was sufficiently clear to get a picture. 

Thus far the only one who has succeeded in halting the 
German army is this little photographer from Kansas. 

A SAMPLE OF GERMAN GUNNERY 

As a field battery of the Imperial Guard rumbled past, 
Thompson made some remark about the accuracy of the 
American gunners at Vera Cruz. 

"Let us show you what our gunners can do," said the 
officer, and gave an order. There were more orders, a per- 



AT THE GERMAN FRONT 119 

feet volley of them, a bugle shrilled harshly, the eight horses 
strained against their collars, the drivers cracked their whips, 
and the gun left the road, bounded across a ditch, and swung 
into position in an adjacent field. 

On a knoll three miles away an ancient windmill was 
beating the air with its huge wings. The gun was fired, the 
shell hit the windmill fair and square and tore it into splin- 
ters. 

"Good work!'* Thompson observed critically. "If those 
fellows of yours keep on they'll be able to get a job in the 
American navy after the war." 

In all the annals of modern war I do not believe there 
is a parallel to this American war photographer halting with 
an upraised, peremptory hand the advancing army, leisurely 
photographing regiment after regiment, and then having a 
field gun of the Imperial Guard go into action solely to gratify 
his curiosity. 

OFFICERS PART OF A MACHINE 

They were courteous and hospitable to me, these German 
officers, and I have been immensely interested in all I have 
seen. But when all is said and done they impress me, not 
as human beings who have weaknesses and virtues, likes and 
dislikes of their own, but rather as parts of a more or less 
important and mighty highly efficient machine directed and 
controlled by cold, calculating intelligence in faraway Berlin. 

That machine has about as much of the human element 
in it as a meat chopper or the death chair at Sing Sing. Its 
mission is to crush, pulverize, obliterate, and destroy, and 
no considerations of civilization, chivalry, or humanity will 
affect it. 

These Germans with their guns, set faces, their monoto- 
nous uniforms, and the ceaseless shuffle of their boots are get- 
ting on my nerves. My car is at the door. I am going back 
to my friends, the Belgians. 



HYMN BEFORE ACTION 

BY KUDYAKD KIPLING 

The earth is full of anger, 

The seas are dark with wrath, 
The Nations in their harness 

Go up against our path: 
Ere yet we loose the legions — 

Ere yet we draw the blade, 
Jehovah of the Thunders, 

Lord God of Battles, aid! 

High lust and froward bearing, 

Proud heart, rebellious brow — 
Deaf ear and soul uncaring, 

We seek Thy mercy now! 
The sinner that forswore Thee, 

The fool that passed Thee by, 
Our times are known before Thee: 

Lord, grant us strength to die! 

From panic, pride and terror, 

Revenge that knows no rein, 
Light haste and lawless error, 

Protect us yet again. 
Cloak Thou our undeserving, 

Make firm the shuddering breath, 
In silence and unswerving 

To haste Thy lesser death! 

E'en now their vanguard gathers, 

E'en now we face the fray — 
As Thou didst help our fathers, 

Help Thou our host today! 
Fulfilled of signs and wonders 

In life, in death made clear — 
Jehovah of the Thunders, 

Lord God of Battles, hear! 

120 



CHAPTER VIII 

BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

Earl Kitchener Appointed Secretary for War — A New Volun- 
teer Army — Expeditionary Force Landed in France — 
Field Marshal Sir John French in Command — Colonies 
Rally to Britain's Aid — The Canadian Contingent — 
Indian Troops Called For — Native Princes Offer Aid. 

AFTER the declaration of war by Great Britain against 
Germany on August 4, the first important development 
in England was the appointment of Earl Kitchener of 
Khartoum as secretary of state for war. This portfolio had been 
previously held by the Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith, premier and first 
lord of the treasury. Lord Kitchener being the idol of the 
British army and most highly esteemed by the nation gen- 
erally for his powers of organization and administration, as 
well as for his military fame, the appointment increased the 
confidence of the British people in the Liberal Government and 
awakened their enthusiasm for war. Parliament unanimously 
passed a vote of credit for $500,000,000 on August 6. 

Lord Kitchener immediately realized the serious nature of 
the task confronting his country as an ally of France against 
the military power of Germany. His first step was to increase 
the regular army. The first call was for 100,000 additional 
men. This was soon increased to 500,000. Within a month 
there were 439,000 voluntary enlistments and then a further 
call was made for 500,000 more, bringing the strength of the 
British army up to 1,854,000 men, a figure unprecedented for 
Great Britain. 

The war fever grew apace in England. All classes of so- 
ciety furnished their quota to the colors for service in Belgium 
and France. The period of enlistment was "for the war" and 
a wave of patriotic fervor swept over the British Isles and over 

121 



122 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

all the colonies of Britain beyond the seas. Political differ- 
ences were forgotten and the empire presented a united front, 
as never before. If Germany had counted on internal dissen- 
sion keeping England out of the fray, the expectation proved 
unfounded. Englishmen, Irishmen and Scotsmen stood shoul- 
der to shoulder. The Irish Home Rule controversy was 
dropped by common consent. The men of Ulster and the Irish 
Nationalists struck hands and agreed to forget their differ- 
ences in the presence of national danger. 

mk. Redmond's patriotic speech 

In the House of Commons on August 3, when Sir Edward 
Grey, foreign secretary, made his momentous declaration as 
to Germany's intended attack on Belgium, William E. Red- 
mond, the Irish Nationalist leader, uttered a memorable dec- 
laration of Irish loyalty, which practically marked the close 
of the long quarrel between Ireland and the English people. 
In words that will be remembered while the British race en- 
dures, he declared : 

"I say that the coasts of Ireland will be defended from 
foreign invasion by her armed sons, and for this purpose 
armed Nationalist Catholics in the south will be only too glad 
to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen in the north. 
Is it too much to hope that out of this situation there may spring 
a result which will be good, not merely for the Empire, but for 
the future welfare and integrity of the Irish nation? If the 
dire necessity is forced upon this country, we offer to the Gov- 
ernment of the day that they may take their troops away, and 
that if it is allowed to us, in comradeship with our brethren 
in the north, we will ourselves defend the coasts of our 
country. ' ' 

Sir Edward Carson, the Ulster leader, responded in sim- 
ilar vein and all danger of Irish disaffection in the hour of 
Britain's need had disappeared. 

STEPS TO AVERT PANIC 

Prompt steps were taken by the British Government to 
avert the dangers of a financial or commercial crisis. A Post- 
ponement of Payments bill was passed by Parliament and this 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 123 

furnished the machinery for a general ''moratorium," should 
such a measure be found necessary. This meant that, if need 
be, in view of the hardship of extraordinary times, honest debts 
would not be pressed for payment until the war was over. Pub- 
lic confidence was also restored by the decision of the Govern- 
ment to undertake the state insurance of merchant vessels, so 
as to secure the transportation of food to the British Isles. The 
issue of one-pound and ten-shilling notes helped to restore 
normal conditions and by Friday, August 7, satisfactory ar- 
rangements were made by the Government for the reopening 
of the banks, which had been temporarily closed, throughout 
the country. Trade resumed normal conditions and the Bank 
of England rate, which earlier in the week had mounted to 10 
per cent, was reduced on August 8 to 5 per cent. 

There were some panicky conditions and a disquieting col- 
lapse on the London Stock Exchange during the last days of 
feverish diplomacy, and it was due to the financial solidity of 
the British nation, no less than to its level-headedness and the 
promptness of government measures, that the declaration of 
war, instead of precipitating worse conditions, cleared the 
atmosphere. 

BRITISH TROOPS LAND IN FRANCE 

While the British army was being mobilized, the utmost 
secrecy was observed regarding all movements of troops. The 
newspapers refrained from publishing even the little they knew 
and an expeditionary force, composed of the flower of the Brit- 
ish army and numbering approximately 94,000 men of all arms 
of the service, was assembled, transported across the Eng- 
lish Channel and landed at Boulogne and other French ports 
behind a veil of deepest mystery, so far as the British public 
and the world at large were concerned. 

The old town of Plymouth, on the Channel, was the chief 
port of embarkation for the troops and the main concentration 
point in England, but troops embarked also at Dublin, Ireland ; 
Liverpool ; Eastbourne ; Southampton, and other cities. Not a 
mention of the midnight sailings of transports carrying troops, 
horses, automobiles, artillery, hospital and commissary equip- 
ment and supplies was allowed to be printed in the newspapers, 



124 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

nor was it known how many troops were being sent across the 
Channel. 

The landing in France was effected between the 10th and 
the 20th of August without the loss of a single man, and on the 
23d, having joined forces with the French army under General 
Joffre, commander-in-chief, the British found themselves in 
touch with the German enemy at Mons in Belgium. 

FIELD- MARSHAL FRENCH IN COMMAND 

The expeditionary force was in supreme command of Field 
Marshal Sir John D. P. French, a veteran officer of high mili- 
tary repute, with Maj.-Gen. Sir A. Murray as chief of staff. 
Other noted officers were Lieut.-Gen. Sir Douglas Haig, com- 
mander of the First Corps; Lieut.-Gen. Sir James Grierson, 
commander of the Second Corps; Maj.-Gen. W. P. Pulteney, 
commander of the Third Corps, and Maj.-Gen. Edmund Al- 
lenby, in command of the Cavalry Division. The home army 
was left in command of Gen. Sir Ian Hamilton. 

Hardly had the expedition landed in France when the death 
was reported of the commander of the Second Corps, Sir 
James Grierson, who succumbed to heart disease while on his 
way to the front, dropping dead on a train. He was given a 
notable military funeral in London. Gen. Sir H. L. Smith-Dor- 
rien was appointed to succeed him in command of the Second 
Corps. 

The British troops were received in France with loud ac- 
claim and Field Marshal French, on visiting Paris for a confer- 
ence at the French war office before proceeding to the front, was 
greeted by a popular demonstration that showed how welcome 
British aid was to the French in their critical hour. 

The British field force was composed of three army corps, 
each comprising two divisions, and there was also an extra 
cavalry division. 

Each army corps consists of twenty-four infantry battalions 
of about one thousand men each on a war footing; six cavalry 
regiments, eight batteries of horse artillery of six guns each, 
eighteen batteries of field artillery, two howitzer batteries, and 
troops of engineers, signal corps, army service corps and other 
details. 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 125 

The number of men in each army corps was therefore ap- 
proximately as follows : 

Infantry 24,000 

Cavalry ._ 3,600 

Horse artillery 800 

Field artillery 1,800 

Howitzer batteries 250 

Signal, army service, commissary, etc 900 

Thus the first British field force landed in France aggre- 
gated about 94,000 men, including the extra cavalry division. 
These were added to almost daily during the following weeks, 
until by September 20 the British had probably 200,000 men 
co-operating with the French army north and east of Paris. 



COLONIES KALLY TO BRITAIN 

At the prospect of war with Germany the dominions of the 
British Empire overseas eagerly offered their aid. Canada, 
Australia, New Zealand, India, all came forward with offers 
of men, money, ships and supplies. The Australian premier 
issued a statement to the people in which he said : "We owe it 
to those who have gone before to preserve the great fabric of 
British freedom and hand it on to our children. Our duty is 
quite clear. Remember we are Britons. ' ' 

CANADA OFFERS MEN 

A formal offer of military contingents was cabled to 
England by the Canadian government August 1. A meeting 
of the cabinet was presided over by Premier Borden. It was 
called to deal with the situation in which Canada found her- 
self as the result of the European war. 

The government unanimously decided to make England 
an offer of men. Infantry, cavalry and artillery would be 
included in any force sent forward and it would number 
20,000 men if transportation could be obtained for that 
number. It was estimated that within two weeks it would 
be possible to dispatch 10,000 efficient soldiers, and within 
three months this number could be increased to 50,000. 

Many offers for foreign service arrived from the com- 
mandants of militia corps throughout the dominion. The 
war spirit apparently was growing in Canada and it appeared 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 127 

that practically every corps would volunteer for foreign 
service. 

A few days later the British Government decided to accept 
the offers of contingents of colonial troops, and the colonies 
were gratified to learn that the famous general, Lord Roberts 
— affectionally known in the British army as "Bobs" — had 
been appointed to the chief command of the men from 
overseas. 

A war session of the Dominion Parliament was held later 
in August and was the briefest on record, lasting only five days. 
During that time the Senate and House of Commons voted $50,- 
000,000 for war expenses. Customs and excise rates on to- 
bacco, liquor, sugar, coffee, and canned fruits were increased 
to provide additional revenue. 

The Canadian contingent for European service was assem- 
bled at Valcartier Camp, sixteen miles from the City of Quebec. 
It was a splendid body of troops, characterized by the chief 
medical examining officer as "the finest body of men he had 
ever seen. ' ' By September 11 there were 28,000 men ready for 
embarkation to join the allied forces in France. The great 
ocean liner Lusitania and other transatlantic craft were or- 
dered to Quebec to transport them to Europe, and their patri- 
otic progress w T as watched with intense interest by all the 
people of Canada. 

The Canadian volunteers came from all the provinces of 
the great Dominion, from British Columbia to Prince Edward 
Island. In the w~eek of August 23 fifteen special trains were 
used to carry nearly 8,000 Western Canadian troops Irom 
points in the vicinity of Winnipeg to Valcartier Camp. De- 
tachments also were sent from Vancouver, Calgary, Red Deer, 
Edmonton, Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Portage 
la Prairie, Fort William, and Port Arthur. At all these 
points the men had been zealously drilling before leaving for 
the concentration camp. 

The provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Xew Brunswick and 
Nova Scotia, all contributed of their brave sons to the expedi- 
tionary force. Every city and town had its representatives on 
the force, which was confidently relied upon to give a good 
account of itself, as Canadian contingents have always done 
before, when face to face with the enemy. 



128 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

In all 40,000 Canadian troops were tendered to and accepted 
by the British Government in the early days of the war ; also 
20,000 men from Australia and 8,000 from New Zealand, a total 
of 68,000 men. 

By the request of the Dominions in each case, the cost of 
the equipment, maintenance and pay of the forces was defrayed 
by the three governments — in itself a generous and patriotic 
additional offer. The Dominions at the same time declared 
their readiness to send additional contingents if required, as 
well as drafts from time to time to maintain their field forces 
at full strength. 

TROOPSHIPS SAIL UNDER CONVOY 

The first intimation that Canadian troops had been dis- 
patched to the front from Valcartier Camp came on Septem- 
ber 24, when the Hon. T. W. Crothers, the Dominion minister 
of labor, announced in a speech before the Canadian Trades 
and Labor Congress, assembled in convention at St. John, New 
Brunswick, that 32,000 Canadian volunteers "left for the front 
a day or two ago." It was understood that the troops had 
sailed from Quebec in twenty armed transports, convoyed by 
a fleet of British warships, which had been collected at con- 
venient ports for the purpose. 

There were two army divisions in the force that sailed, each 
comprising three brigades of infantry (12,000 men), 27 guns, 
500 cavalry, and 2,000 staff, signallers, medical corps and 
supernumaries. 

THE FINAL REVIEW AT VALCARTIER 

Before they sailed away the Canadian army marched past 
the reviewing stand at the Valcartier Camp, Quebec, under the 
eyes of 10,000 civilians. There were 32,000 soldiers equipped 
for active service and everyone was impressed with the serious 
scene. 

The Duke and Duchess of Connaught, the Princess Patri- 
cia, Col. Sam Hughes, the Canadian minister of militia, and 
Col. V. H. C. Williams, commandant of the camp, looked on 
with pride as the great parade, almost a full army corps, 
passed the royal standard. They marched in column of half 
battalions, and took a full hour to go by. 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 



129 



' ' Canada may well be proud of this first contingent, ' ' said 
S. J. Duncan-Clark, who was an interested eyewitness of the 
scene. "It is a magnificent body of men, the pick of the 
Dominion's soldiery. Probably 75 per cent of them have seen 
action, and every one of them is a marksman. 

"And Canada may well be proud of the efficiency that has 
converted a wilderness into a splendidly equipped and orderly 




THE CANADIAN CONCENTRATION CAMP, VALCARTIER, QUEBEC 



military camp. It was only a year ago that the Government 
purchased the big tract of level land that is now known to the 
world as Valcartier. Nothing had been done to fit it for mili- 
tary use until war broke out. Canada determined at once to 
take her place side by side with the mother country in fight- 
ing the empire's battles. 

CAMP FACILITIES WERE IDEAL 

1 ' Since the 1st of August a railroad line has been built to 
the edge of the camp, which is sixteen miles from the City of 



130 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

Quebec. Roads have been constructed running for six miles 
across the plain ; electric lights have been installed that make 
the camp as brilliant as a city at night; water has been piped 
and distributed by hydrants, so that every group of tents has 
abundance of it easily available, and shower baths by the hun- 
dred have been erected for the men. There is a canteen, but 
it is limited strictly to soft drinks. In the more than four 
weeks that over 30,000 men have been living in this great can- 
vas city there have been only four deaths — three from pneu- 
monia and one from heart failure. 

"As each batch of men arrived they were vaccinated for 
typhoid, and the utmost care has been taken to make the 
conditions healthful. For several weeks the weather was ex- 
ceedingly inclement — cold and wet; but the minimum of dis- 
comfort was suffered owing to the excellence of the arrange- 
ments. 

"I wandered over the camp without the least restraint 
while waiting for the review. It was most interesting to watch 
the men. Many of them looked well seasoned and mature in 
manhood, but there were not a few who are little more than 
boys. Every variety of accent could be heard — the broad 
English, the burring Scotch, the brogue of Ireland, the nasal 
quick-fire French, and the flat Canadian. I saw some in 
khaki who were manifestly Indians — not East Indians, but 
the real redskins of America ; and some I saw whose features 
betrayed their Semitic race. It is said there are nearly 200 
Jews in the contingent. 

"About one-half of the contingent was recruited from 
highland regiments, and they will wear their kilts in action. 
The gay plaids, however, are covered with khaki aprons, and 
the tunics are of the same material. To the enemy at a dis- 
tance they will look little different from their comrades who 
wear trousers. 

PAEADE WAS A BEAVE SIGHT 

"It was an ideal field for military maneuvers. Behind it 
rose the purple hills of the Laurentian range. Down upon it 
beat an autumn sun. The day was perfect. Without an undu- 
lation the plain stretched for nearly three miles, and as I 
reached its edge the soldiers were extended in a long line 




FOUNDERING OF THE BRITISH CRUISER "ABOUKIR." 
A few minutes after the "Aboukir"' was struck by a torpedo from the German 
submarine U-9 early on Sept. 22, 1914, she listed to port at an angle of 45 degrees and 
the captain sang out from the bridge, "Every man for himself !" The drawing depicts 
the scene that followed, as described by a survivor. Two-thirds of the crew of 650 were 
drowned or killed by the explosion. The boats of the cruisers Ilogue and Cressy, which 
were soon after also torpedoed and sunk, are seen coming to the rescue. The total loss 
was over 1,400 lives. — Drawn by Charles Dixon, R. I., for The Graphic. 





Copyright by rnrkTwood & UniTerwood. N. Y. 

1. Hotel de Musee on the Battlefield of Waterloo near Brussels. 

2. The River Meuse at Dinant, Scene of one of the Bloodiest Struggles of 

the War. 




Oopyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Japanese Soldiers Digging- Trenches — Types of the Men Opposing Germany 

in the Far East 




Scenes in the Great Canadian Mobilization Camp at Valcarlii r, (Jnrbec. with the Laurentian 

Hills in th" Distance Tlie Camp Comprises 20,000 Acres of Ground 

for Training Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 131 

across its whole Length. On the breeze cam -ound c: 

bagpipes as the highlan lera took up their position to my right. 
pt for a : -ional bngle call it was the only mv 

"It was 3 o'clock when the parade began. The artiL 
led, and - -: endless succession of 

guns, drawn by the fine-" b rsesin the Canadian TTest. They 
rattled by. qnickening to a fast trot as i 

standing. I am told there were 300 machine g addi- 

tion to many other larger field pieces with I kxngenl 

"Then came battalion attalion of infantry, the 

greater part on foot. T_:s section of the parade was i 
division-, the -eeond consisting of kilties. The men marched 
without music, and except for an occasional clapping of L 
Bfl they broke into the double or changed their formation, the 
crowd that watched maintained an imp i nee. 

•"Some of the men marched with fixed bayonets, 
heard the comment around me: 'That's what the Germans 
are - :f.' 

• • There were a few companies of mounted infantry. II 
mounted men will probably be sent with the second 
gent, of which the people are already talking. 

"A small corps of cyclists followed the infantry, and the 
was brought up with the Eed Cross detach] 
sacred emblem that speaks for the cause of huma^ " 
played in bold enough form on the ■:■ avered wag 
ible to the enemy a mile away. 

""When the last of the soldiers had left the par 
I wandered back to the camp. In one of the tents a khaki- 
clad accompanist pounded out "It's a L _ og Way to Tip- 
perary, ' and I heard for the first time the rollicking Irish - 
to the measure of which the soldiers of the king have gt>ne 
to war. It is well adapted to cheer the spirits of the men. 
it has just enough of the simple sentiment of the soldier heart 
to appeal to those who have left home far behind in order to 
fight their country's foes in a foreign Ian I 

C03O1A2TDEBS OF THZ CAHADIAH P0BGE 

The list of brigade commanders of the Canadian expedi- 
lary force was announced as follows : 



132 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

Officers commanding the four infantry brigades: Lieut. - 
Col. R. E. W. Turner, V. C., D. S. 0., of Quebec, a veteran of 
the South African war, mentioned in dispatches for especially 
gallant service ; Lieut.-Col. S. M. Mercer, Toronto, Command- 
ing Officer of the Queen's Own Rifles; Lieut.-Col. A. W. Cur- 
rie of Victoria, Commanding Officer of the 50th Fusiliers; 
Lieut.-Col. J. E. Cohoe of St. Catharines, Commanding Offi- 
cer of the 5th Militia Infantry Brigade. 

The officers appointed to command the artillery brigade 
were: Lieut-Col. H. E. Burstall of Quebec, of the Artillery 
Headquarters Staff. 

Officer in command of the Strathcona Horse, Lieut.-Col. 
A. C. MacDonald, D. S. 0., of Winnipeg, a South African 
veteran. 

Officer in command of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, 
Lieut.-Col. C. M. Nelles of Toronto, Inspector of Cavalry for 
Militia Headquarters. 

The commanding officer of the whole army division was an 
English general selected by the British War Office. 

It was understood that the Canadian troops would land 
in the south of England and march through London to train- 
ing quarters at Aldershot and Salisbury Plains, the infantry 
going to Aldershot and the artillery to Salisbury Plains, for 
several weeks' training under active service conditions before 
going to the firing line. 

CANADA FIGHTS AGAINST AUTOCRACY 

"Canada will spend its last dollar and shed its last drop 
of blood fighting for the principle of democracy, against that 
of autocracy, as exemplified in the present European conflict." 

This was the emphatic statement made by Sir Douglas 
Cameron, lieutenant-governor — chief executive — of the prov- 
ince of Manitoba, passing through Chicago on September 28. 

"Great Britain is not fighting for empire," he said. "It 
is not fighting for greater commercial gains. We are fighting 
for the annihilation of autocracy and it is the sentiment of 
die people of Canada that they will fight against Germany's 
domination to the bitter end. 

"England does not want more commerce, except as it can 
be gained through the paths of peace. We would not draw 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 133 

the sword to increase it, but we will fight to the last drop 
of blood to protect it. 

"The men of Canada have responded nobly to the call to 
arms. We have sent about 31,800 provincial troops, every 
one a volunteer, and we have that many more already enlisted 
if they are needed. Our trouble is to equip them as fast as 
they enlist. 

"In Canada we are turning our attention to agricultural 
pursuits. Wheat is at a premium; a farmer can get from 
$1 to $1.10 per bushel in cash for wheat on his wagon. All 
Europe will be in dire need of foodstuffs next year and for 
some years to come and we in Canada hope to profit by the 
opportunity. 

' ' Economic conditions in the dominion received a terrible 
blow when the war came; we were shocked, staggered, and 
business has received a hard setback ; finances are depressed. 
The government has offered help to the banks, but they do 
not need it yet. 

"We want immigrants in our country — Germans or any 
other good, strong, virile nationality. We have no quarrel 
with the German people. We like them; they are used to a 
high standard of living and are the finest kind of citizens. 

"To my mind, this war cannot be of long duration. Ger- 
many, with all its preparedness, could not lay by stores enough 
to support 65,000,000 people for any great length of time 
when there is no raw material coming in. The country will 
be starved out, if not beaten in the field, for I do not believe 
Germany can gain control of the high seas and cover the world 
with its merchantmen." 



INDIAN TROOPS CALLED FOR 

The announcement by Lord Kitchener in the House of Com- 
mons late in August that native troops from India were to be 
summoned to the aid of the British army in France "came like 
a crash of thunder and revealed a grim determination to fight 
the struggle out to a successful finish. " 

There was some talk in England of increasing the army by 
temporary conscription, but Premier Asquith declined to con- 
sider any such proposal. 

In the House of Commons on September 9 a message was 



134 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

read from the Viceroy of India, which said that the rulers of 
the Indian native states, nearly 700 in number, had with one 
accord rallied to the defense of the empire with personal offers 
of services as well as the resources of their states. 

Many of the native rulers of India also sent cables to King 
George offering him their entire military and financial re- 
sources, while the people of India by thousands offered to 
volunteer. 

Conditions in India were indeed so satisfactory, from the 
British standpoint, that Premier Asquith was able to announce 
that two divisions (40,000) of British (white) soldiers were to 
be removed from India. 

The aid that India could offer was not lightly to be consid- 
ered. The soldiery retained by the British and the rajahs, con- 
stituting India's standing army, amount to about 400,000, not 
taking into consideration the reserves and the volunteers. The 
rajahs maintain about 23,000 soldiers, who are named Imperial 
Service Troops, expressly for purposes of Imperial defense, 
and these have served in many wars. They served with British, 
German, French, and United States troops in China from Sep- 
tember, 1900, to August, 1901, and gained the highest laurels 
for efficiency and good conduct. 

The first Indian troops called for by Lord Kitchener in- 
cluded two divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, add- 
ing about 70,000 combatants to the allied armies in France, 
with approximately 130 pieces of artillery, both light and 
heavy, and howitzers. 

Twelve Indian potentates were selected to accompany this 
expeditionary force. These included the veteran Sir Pertab 
Singh, regend of Jodhpur; Sir Ganga Bahadur, Maharajah of 
Bikanir, and Sir Bhupindra Singh, Maharajah of Patiala. 

The expeditionary force contained units of the regular 
army and contingents of the Imperial Service Troops in India. 
From twelve states the viceroy accepted contingents of cavalry, 
infantry, sappers and transport, besides a camel corps from 
Bikanir. 

The Maharajah of Mysore placed $1,600,000 at the dis- 
posal of the Government in connection with the expenditure 
for the expeditionary force. In addition to this gift, the Ma- 
harajahs of Gwalior and Bhopal contributed large sums of 



BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 135 

money and provided thousands of horses as remounts. Ma- 
harajah Repa offered his troops and treasure, even his pri- 
vately-owned jewelry, for the service of the British King and 
Emperor of India. Maharajah Holkar of Indore made a gift 
of all the horses in the army of his state. 

A similar desire to help the British Government was shown 
by committees representing religious, political, and social asso- 
ciations of all classes and creeds in India. 

In the House of Lords on August 28 Earl Kitchener an- 
nounced that the first division of the troops from India was 
already on the way to the front in France. At the same time 
the Marquis of Crewe, secretary of state for India, said: "It 
has been deeply impressed upon us by what we have heard 
from India that the wonderful wave of enthusiasm and loyalty 
now passing over that country is to a great extent based upon 
the desire of the Indian people that Indian soldiers should 
stand side by side with their comrades of the British army in 
repelling the invasion of our friends ' territory and the attack 
made upon Belgium. We shall find our army there reinforced 
by native Indian soldiers — high-souled men of first-rate train- 
ing and representing an ancient civilization ; and we feel certain 
that if they are called upon they will give the best possible 
account of themselves side by side with our British troops in 
encountering the enemy. ' ' 

KING GEORGE PRAISES COLONIES 

On September 9 a message from King George to the British 
colonies, thanking them for their aid in Britain's emergency, 
was published as follows : 

1 ' During the last few weeks the peoples of my whole empire 
at home and overseas have moved with one mind and purpose 
to confront and overthrow an unparalleled assault upon the 
continuity of civilization and the peace of mankind. 

"The calamitous conflict is not of my seeking. My voice 
has been cast throughout on the side of peace. My ministers 
earnestly strove to allay the causes of the strife and to appease 
differences with which my empire was not concerned. Had I 
stood aside when in defiance of pledges to which my kingdom 
was a party, the soil of Belgium was violated and her cities 
made desolate, when the very life of the French nation was 



136 BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY 

threatened with extinction, I should have sacrificed my honor 
and given to destruction the liberties of my empire and of 
mankind. 

"I rejoice that every part of the empire is with me in this 
decision. 

"Paramount regard for a treaty of faith and the pledged 
word of rulers and peoples is the common heritage of Great 
Britain and of the empire. My peoples in the self-governing 
dominions have shown beyond all doubt that they whole-heart- 
edly indorse the grave decision it was necessary to take, and 
I am proud to be able to show to the world that my peoples 
oversea are as determined as the people of the United Kingdom 
to prosecute a just cause to a successful end. 

1 ' The Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia 
and the Dominion of New Zealand have placed at my disposal 
their naval forces, which have already rendered good service 
for the empire. Strong expeditionary forces are being pre- 
pared in Canada, Australia and New Zealand for service at 
the front, and the Union of South Africa has released all Brit- 
ish troops and undertaken other important military responsi- 
bilities. 

"Newfoundland has doubled the number of its branch of 
the royal naval reserve, and is sending a body of men to take 
part in the operations at the front. From the Dominion and 
Provincial governments of Canada, large and welcome gifts 
of supplies are on their way for use both by my naval and mili- 
tary forces. 

"All parts of my oversea dominions have thus demon- 
strated in the most unmistakable manner the fundamental 
unity of the empire amidst all its diversity of situation and 
circumstance. ' ' 

A message similar to the foregoing was addressed by King 
George to the princes and the people of India. 

The King's eldest son, the young Prince of Wales, volun- 
teered for active service at the outset of the war and was 
gazetted as a second lieutenant in the First Battalion, Grena- 
dier Guards. He also inaugurated and acted as treasurer of 
a national fund for the relief of sufferers by the war. This 
fund soon grew to $10,000,000 and steadily climbed beyond that 
amount. 



CHAPTER IX 

EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

Belgian Resistance to the German Advance — The Fighting 
at Vise, Haelen, Diest, Aerschot and Tirlemont — Mons 
and Charleroi the First Great Battles of the War — 
Allies Make a Gallant Stand, but Forced to Retire 
Across the French Border. 

FROM the first day of the German entry into Belgium brief 
and hazy reports of battles between the patriotic Belgians 
and the invaders came across the Atlantic. Many absurd 
and mischievous reports of repeated Belgian ''victories" 
were received throughout the month of August. These were 
for the most part rendered ridiculous by the steady advance 
of the German troops. The resistance of the Belgians was 
gallant and persistent, but availed only to hinder and delay 
the German advance which it was powerless to stop. Up to 
August 23, there were no "victories" possible for either side, 
because never until then were the opposing armies definitely 
pitted against each other in an engagement in which one or 
the other must be broken. 

All the time these Belgian "victories," which were no 
more than resistances to German reconnoissances, were being 
reported, the German line was not touched, and behind that 
line the Germans were methodically massing. 

When they were ready they came on. The Belgian army 
retired from the Diest-Tirlemont line, from Aerschot and 
Louvain, from Brussels, because to have held these positions 
against the overwhelming force opposed to them would have 
meant certain destruction. The rearguards held each of these 

137 



138 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

points with the greatest heroism so long as that was neces- 
sary, and then retired in good order on the main force. 

VISE ATTACKED AND FIRED 

The first fighting of any severity in Belgium occurred 
at Vise, near the frontier, early in the German advance. Ger- 
man troops crossed the frontier in motors, followed by large 
bodies of cavalry, but the Belgians put up a stubborn resist- 
ance. The chiefs of the Belgian staff had foreseen the inva- 
sion and had blown up the bridges of the River Meuse outside 
the town, as well as the railway tunnels. Time after time 
the Belgians foiled with their heavy fire the attempts of the 
Germans to cross by means of pontoons. Vise itself was 
stubbornly defended. Only after a protracted struggle did 
the Germans master the town, which they fired in several 
places on entering. 

BATTLES OF HAELEN-DIEST 

At the end of the first week of the Belgian invasion it was 
estimated that the Germans had concentrated most of their 
field troops, probably about 900,000 combatants, along a 75- 
mile line running from Liege to the entrance into Luxemburg 
at Treves. With this immense army it was said there were no 
less than 5,894 pieces of artillery. This was only the first-line 
strength of the Germans, the reserves being massed in the 
rear. Part of the right wing was swung northward and 
westward in the direction of Antwerp, and swept the whole 
of northern Belgium to the Dutch frontier. 

On August 10 the Belgian defenders fought a heavy en- 
gagement with the Germans at Haelen, which was described 
in the dispatches as the first battle of the war. A Belgian 
victory was claimed as the result, the German losses, it was 
said, being very heavy, especially in cavalry, while the Bel- 
gian casualties were reported relatively small. But the Ger- 
man advance was merely checked. The covering troops were 
speedily reinforced from the main body of the army and the 
advance swept on. 

The result of the Haelen engagement was thus described 
in the dispatches of August 13 : 

"The battle centered around Haelen, in the Belgian 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 139 

province of Limbourg, extending to Diest, in the north of the 
province of Brabant, after passing round Zeelhem. 

"At 7 o'clock last evening all the country between the 
three towns mentioned had been cleared of German troops, 
except the dead and wounded, who were thickly strewn about 
the fire zone. Upward of 200 dead German soldiers were 
counted in a space of fifty yards square. 

"A church, a brewery and some houses in Haelen were 
set afire, and two bridges over the Demer were destroyed by 
Belgian engineers. 

"Great quantities of booty were collected on the battle- 
field, and this has been stacked in front of the town hall of 
Diest. Many horses also were captured. 

"The strength of the German column was about 5,000 
men. ' ' 

Another report said of the encounter: 

"A division of Belgian cavalry, supported by a brigade 
of infantry and by artillery, engaged and defeated, near the 
fortress of Diest, eighteen miles northeast of Louvain, a divi- 
sion of German cavalry, also supported by infantry and by 
artillery. 

"The fighting was extremely fierce and resulted in the 
Germans being thrown back toward Hasselt and St. Trond." 

Meanwhile the forts at Liege, to the southeast, still held 
out, though fiercely bombarded by German siege guns. The 
fortress of Namur was also being attacked. The Germans 
had bridged the river Meuse and were moving their crack 
artillery against the Belgian lines. French troops had joined 
the Belgian defenders and the main battle line extended from 
Liege on the north to Metz on the south. 

A visit to Haelen and other towns by a Brussels corre- 
spondent August 17, "showed the frightful devastation which 
the Germans perpetrated in Belgian territory. 

"For instance, at Haelen itself houses belonging to the 
townspeople have been completely wrecked. Windows were 
broken, furniture destroyed, and the walls demolished by 
shell fire. Even the churches have not been respected. The 
parish church at Haelen has been damaged considerably from 
shrapnel fire. 



140 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

"On the battlefield there are many graves of Germans 
marked by German lances erected in the form of a cross." 

ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF DIEST 

A correspondent of the New York Tribune said : 

"Across the battlefield of Diest there is a brown stretch 
of harrowed ground half a furlong in length. It is the grave 
of twelve hundred Germans who fell in the fight of August 
11. All over the field there are other graves, some of Ger- 
mans, some of Belgians, some of horses. When I reached 
the place peasants with long mattocks and spades were turn- 
ing in the soil. For two full days they had been at the work 
of burial and they were sick at heart. Their corn is ripe for 
cutting in the battlefield, but little of it will be harvested. 
Dark paths in their turnip fields are sodden with the blood 
of men and horses." 

The Belgians, in contempt of German markmanship, had 
forced the enemy to the attack, which had been made from 
three points of the field simultaneously. The fighting had been 
fierce, but now that both sides had swept on, no one seemed 
to know how those in the fight had really fared. Only by 
the heaps of dead could one make estimate: 

"At least, there were most dead on the side toward the 
bridge. A charge of 300 Uhlans, who were held in check for 
a short time by seventeen Belgians at a corner, seems, how- 
ever, to have come near success. The derelict helmets and 
lances that covered the fields show that the charge pressed 
well up to the guns and to the trenches in the turnip fields 
where the Belgian soldiers lay. On the German left mitrail- 
leuses got in their work behind, and in the houses on the out- 
skirts of the villages. Five of these houses were burned to 
the ground, and two others farther out broken all to pieces 
and burned. In a shed was a peasant weeping over the dead 
bodies of his cows. 

"It would be easy now at the beginning of this war to 
write of its tragedy. The villages have each a tale of loss to 
tell. All of the twelve hundred men in the long grave were 
men with wives, sweethearts, and parents. All the Belgian 
soldiers and others who were buried where they fell have 
mourners. 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 141 

A LETTER FROM THE GRAVE 

"A letter which I picked up on the field and am endeavor- 
ing to have identified and sent her for whom it is intended 
will speak for all. It is written in ink on half a sheet of thin 
notepaper. There is no date and no place. It probably 
was written on the eve of battle in the hope that it would reach 
its destination if the writer died. This is the translation : 

" ' Sweetheart: Fate in this present war has treated us 
more cruelly than many others. If I have not lived to create 
for you the happiness of which both our hearts dreamed, 
remember my sole wish now is that you should be happy. For- 
get me and create for yourself some happy home that may re- 
store to you some of the greater pleasures of life. For myself, 
I shall have died happy in the thought of your love. My 
last thought has been for you and for those I leave at home. 
Accept this, the last kiss from him who loved you.* 

"Postcards from fathers with blessings to their gallant 
sons I found, too, on the field, little mementos of people and 
of places carried by men as mascots. Everywhere were 
broken lances of German and Belgian, side by side ; scabbards 
and helmets, saddles and guns. These the peasants were col- 
lecting in a pile, to be removed by the military. High up over 
the graves of twelve hundred, as we stood there, a German 
biplane came and went, hovering like a carrion crow, seeking 
other victims for death. 

' i In the village itself death is still busy. A wounded Ger- 
man died as we stood by his side and a Belgian soldier placed 
his handkerchief over his face. Soldiers who filled the lit- 
tle market-place may be fighting for life now as I write. The 
enemy is in force not a mile away from them, and in a moment 
they may be attacked. It is significant that all German 
prisoners believed they were in France. The deception, it 
appears, was necessary to encourage them in their attack, 
and twelve hundred dead in the harrowed field died without 
knowing whom or what they were fighting.' ' 

THOUGHT THEY WERE IN FRANCE 

A number of German prisoners were taken by the Belgians 
during the fighting at Haelen-Diest. From these it was 



I 

! 



142 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

learned that the German soldiers really believed they were 
fighting in France. At Diest it is said that 400 surrendered 
the moment they lost their officers and were surprised to learn 
that they were in Belgium. 

King Albert of Belgium was constantly in the field dur- 
ing the early engagements of the war, moving from point to 
point inside the Belgian lines by means of a high-powered 
automobile, in which he was slightly wounded by the explosion 
of a shell. He was thus enabled to keep in touch with the 
field forces, as well as with his general staff, and speedily 
endeared himself to the Belgian soldiery by his personal dis- 
regard of danger. 

The Belgians by their gallant fight against the trained 
legions of Germany quickly won the admiration even of their 
foes. The army of Belgium was brought up to its full strength 
of 300,000 men and everywhere the soldiers of the little coun- 
try battled to halt the invaders. Often their efforts proved 
effective. The losses on both sides were truly appalling, the 
Germans suffering most on account of their open methods of 
attack in close order. But their forces were like the sands 
of the sea and every gap in the ranks of the onrushing host 
was promptly filled by more Germans. 

TIELEMONT AND LOUVAIN 

The fighting at Tirlemont and Louvain was described by 
a citizen of Ostend, who says he witnessed it from a church 
tower at Tirlemont first and later proceeded to Louvain. He 
says: 

" Until luncheon time Tuesday, August 18, Tirlemont was 
quiet and normal. Suddenly, about 1 o 'clock, came the sound 
of the first German gun. The artillery had opened fire. 

i 'From the church tower it was possible to see distinctly 
the position of the German guns and the bursting of their 
shells. The Belgians replied from their positions east of 
Louvain. It was a striking sight, to the accompaniment of 
the ceaseless thud-thud of bursting shells with their puffs 
of cottonlike smoke, tearing up the peaceful wheat fields not 
far away. 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 143 

BELGIANS RETIRE AT LOUVAIN 

1 ' Gradually working nearer, the shells began to strike the 
houses in Tirlemont. This was a signal for the populace, 
which had been confident that the Belgian army would pro- 
tect them, to flee. All they knew was that the Germans were 
coming. From the tower the scene was like the rushing of 
rats from a disturbed nest. The people fled in every direc- 
tion except one. 

1 ' I moved down to Louvain, where everything seemed quiet 
and peaceful. The people sat in the cafes drinking their 
evening beer and smoking. Meanwhile the Belgian troops 
were retiring in good order toward Louvain. 

TOWN IN PANIC WITH REFUGEES 

"By midnight the town was in the throes of a panic. 
Long before midnight throngs of refugees had begun to ar- 
rive, followed later by soldiers. By 11 o'clock the Belgian 
rear guard was engaging the enemy at the railroad bridge 
at the entrance to the town. 

"The firing was heavy. The wounded began to come in. 
Riderless horses came along, both German and Belgian. These 
were caught and mounted by civilians glad to have so rapid 
a mode of escape. 

TROOPS HINDERED BY CIVILIANS 

"I remember watching a black clad Belgian woman run- 
ning straight down the middle of a road away from the 
Germans. Behind her came the retiring Belgian troops, dis- 
heartened but valiant. This woman, clad in mourning, was 
the symbol of the Belgian populace. 

"At some of the barricades along the route the refugees 
and soldiers arrived simultaneously, making the defense dif- 
ficult. All about Tirlemont and Louvain the refugees inter- 
fered with the work of the troops. The road to Brussels 
always was crowded with refugees and many sorrowful sights 
were witnessed among them as they fled from the homes that 
had been peaceful and prosperous a few days before. 



144 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

BRUSSELS FILLED WITH REFUGEES 

1 'Brussels is filled with refugees from surrounding towns, 
despite the large numbers who left the city for Ghent and 
Ostend during the last few days," said a correspondent, 
writing from Ghent on August 20. 

"The plight of most of the refugees is pitiable. Many 
are camped in the public square whose homes in the suburbs 
have been fired by the Prussians. The roads leading into 
Brussels have been crowded all day with all kinds of con- 
veyances, many drawn by dogs and others by girls, women 
and aged peasants. 

' ' Most of these people have lost everything. Few of them 
have any money. The peasant is considered lucky who suc- 
ceeded in saving a single horse or a cow. 

"Military men characterize the German force which is 
moving across Belgium as overwhelming, saying it consists 
of at least two or three army corps. The advance of this 
huge force is covered over the entire thirty-mile front by a 
screen of cavalry. The Germans had no difficulty in taking 
Louvain, which was virtually undefended. 

"In the high wooded country between Louvain and Brus- 
sels the Germans found an excellent defensive position. Hav- 
ing occupied Louvain, the Kaiser's troops pushed forward 
with great celerity, the cavalry opening out in fan-shaped 
formation, spreading across country. 

"At one point they ran into a strong force of Belgian 
artillery, which punished them severely. Later in the day 
a Belgian scouting force reached Louvain and found it unoc- 
cupied, but received imperative orders to fall back, because 
of the danger of being outflanked and annihilated." 



ALLIES MEET THE INVADERS 



By August 20 the Germans were in touch with the French 
army that had advanced into Belgium and occupied the line 
Dinant-Charleroi-Mons, the right of the French resting on 
Dinant and the left on Mons, where they were reinforced by 
the British expeditionary force under Field Marshal French. 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 145 

There was a heavy engagement at Charleroi, and a four days ' 
battle was begun at Mons August 23. Slowly but surely the 
Franco-British army was forced back across the French 
border, to take up a new position on the line, Noyon-Chanu- 
La Fere, which constituted the second line of the French de- 
fense. 

The German right, opposing the British, was under com- 
mand of General von Kluck ; General von Buelow and General 
von Hausen commanded the German center opposing the 
Franco-Belgian forces between the Sambre and Namur and 
the Meuse. The Grand Duke Albrecht of Wuerttemberg oper- 
ated between Charleroi and the French border fortress of 
Maubeuge. The German Crown Prince led an army far- 
ther east, advancing toward the Meuse. The Crown 
Prince of Bavaria commanded the German forces far- 
ther south toward Nancy, and General von Heeringen was 
engaged in repulsing French attacks on Alsace-Lorraine, in 
the region of the Vosges mountains, where the French had 
met with early successes. 

Meanwhile on August 18 the town of Aerschot had been 
the scene of a bloody engagement and was occupied and partly 
destroyed by the Germans. The occupation of Brussels fol- 
lowed on August 20-21 and the German line of communica- 
tions was kept open by a line of occupied towns. 

After overwhelming the Belgians the Kaiser's great ad- 
vance army swept quickly into deadly conflict with the allies. 
The first mighty shock came at Charleroi, where the French 
were forced back, and on August 23 came the first battle 
with the British at Mons. 

THE BATTLE OF MONS FOUR DAYS OF FIGHTING RETREAT OF THE 

ALLIES 

All England was thrilled on the morning of September 10 
when the British government permitted the newspapers to 
publish the first report from Field Marshal Sir John D. P. 
French, commander-in-chief of the British army allied with 
the French and Belgians on the continent, telling of the heroic 
fight made by the British troops, August 23-26, to keep from 
being annihilated by the Germans. 



146 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

The withdrawal of the British army before the German 
advance was compared to the pursuit of a wildcat by hounds, 
the English force backing stubbornly toward the River Oise, 
constantly showing its teeth, but realizing that it must reach 
the river or perish. The report of Field Marshal French 
created much surprise in England, as it was not known until 
his statement was made public just how hard pressed the 
British army had been. 

The communication was addressed to Earl Kitchener, the 
secretary for war, and its publication indicated that the gov- 
ernment was responding to the public demand for fuller infor- 
mation on the progress of operations, so far as the British 
forces in France were concerned. 

The report, as published in the London Gazette, the official 
organ, was as follows : 

FIELD MARSHAL FRENCH 's REPORT 

"The transportation of the troops from England by rail 
and sea was effected in the best order and without a check. 
Concentration was practically completed on the evening of 
Friday, August 21, and I was able to make dispositions to 
move the force during Saturday to positions I considered 
most favorable from which to commence the operations which 
General Joffre requested me to undertake. The line extended 
along the line of the canal from Conde on the west, through 
Mons and Binche on the east. 

"During August 22 and 23 the advance squadrons did 
some excellent work, some of them penetrating as far as Soig- 
nies (a town of Belgium ten miles northeast of Mons) and 
several encounters took place in which our troops showed to 
great advantage. 

"On Sunday, the 23d, reports began to come in to the 
effect that the enemy was commencing an attack on the Mons 
line, apparently in some strength, but that the right of the 
position from Mons was being particularly threatened. 

"The commander of the First Corps had pushed his flank 
back to some high ground south of Bray and the Fifth Cavalry 
evacuated Binche, moving slightly south. The enemy there- 
upon occupied Binche. 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 147 

"The right of the third division under General Hamilton 
was at Mons, which formed a somewhat dangerous salient 
and I directed the commander of the Second Corps if threat- 
ened seriously to draw back the center behind Mons. 

"In the meantime, about five in the afternoon, I received 
a most unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph, 
telling me that at least three German corps were moving on 
my position in front and that a second corps was engaged in 
a turning movement from the direction of Tournai. He also 
informed me that the two reserve French divisions and the 
Fifth French Army Corps on my right were retiring. 

CHOSE A NEW POSITION 

"In view of the possibility of my being driven from the 
Mons position, I had previously ordered a position in the rear 
to be reconnoitered. 

"This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the 
right and extended west to Jenlain, southeast of Valenciennes 
on the left. The position was reported difficult to hold be- 
cause standing crops and buildings limited the fire in many 
important localities. 

"When the news of the retirement of the French and the 
heavy German threatening on my front reached me, I endeav- 
ored to confirm it by aeroplane reconnoissance, and as a result 
of this I determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge 
position at daybreak on the 24th. 

"A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole 
line throughout the night and at daybreak on the 24th the 
second division from the neighborhood of Harmignies^ made 
a powerful demonstration as if to retake Binche. This was 
supported by the artillery of both the first and the second 
divisions while the first division took up a supporting posi- 
tion in the neighborhood of Peissant. Under cover of this 
demonstration the Second Corps retired on the line of Dour, 
Quarouble and Frameries. The third division on the right 
of the corps suffered considerable loss in this operation from 
the enemy, who had retaken Mons. 

"The Second Corps halted on this line, where they in- 
trenched themselves, enabling Sir Douglas Haig, with the 
First Corps, to withdraw to the new position. 



148 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

NIGHT ATTACK ON THE LEFT 

' ' Toward midnight the enemy appeared to be directing his 
principal effort against our left. I had previously ordered 
General Allenby with the cavalry to act vigorously in advance 
of my left front and endeavor to take the pressure off. 

"About 7:30 in the morning General Allenby received a 
message from Sir Charles Fergusson, commanding the fifth 
division, saying he was very hard pressed and in urgent need 
of support. On receipt of this message General Allenby drew 
in his cavalry and endeavored to bring direct support to the 
fifth division. 

"During the course of this operation General DeLisle of 
the Second Cavalry Brigade thought he saw a good oppor- 
tunity to paralyze the further advance of the enemy's infan- 
try by making a mounted attack on his flank. He formed up 
and advanced for this purpose, but was held up by wire about 
500 yards from his objective. 

GENERAL SMlTH-DORRIEN IN RETREAT 

1 ' The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade was brought by rail to 
Valenciennes on the 22d and 23d. On the morning of the 24th, 
they were moved out to a position south of Quarouble to sup- 
port the left flank of the Second Corps. With the assistance 
of cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was enabled to effect 
his retreat to a new position. 

"At nightfall a position was occupied by the Second Corps 
to the west of Bavay, the First Corps to the right. The right 
was protected by the fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the 
Nineteenth Brigade in position between Jenlain and Bavay 
and cavalry on the outer flank. The French were still retir- 
ing and I had no support except such as was afforded by the 
fortress of Maubeuge. 

ARMY IN GREAT PERIL 

"I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring to an- 
other position. I had every reason to believe that the enemy's 
forces were somewhat exhausted and I knew that they had 
suffered heavy losses. The operation, however, was full of 
danger and difficulty, not only owing to the very superior 
forces in my front, but also to the exhaustion of the troops. 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 149 

' ' The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of 
the 25th to a position in the neighborhood of Le Cateau and 
the rear guard were ordered to be clear of Maubeuge and 
Bavay by 5 :30 a. m. 

''The fourth division commenced its detrainment at Le 
Cateau on Sunday, August 23, and by the morning of the 25th 
eleven battalions and a brigade of artillery with the divisional 
staff were available for service. I ordered General Snow to 
move out to take up a position with his right south of So- 
lesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai-Le Cateau road south 
of La Chapriz. In this position the division rendered great 
help. 

"Although the troops had been ordered to occupy Cam- 
brai-Le Cateau-Landrecies position and ground had, during 
the 25th, been partially prepared and entrenched, I had grave 
doubts as to the wisdom of standing there to fight. 

' l Having regard to the continued retirement of the French 
right, my exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's 
western corps to envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted 
condition of the troops, I determined to make a great effort 
to continue the retreat till I could put some substantial obsta- 
cle, such as the Somme or the Oise between my troops and the 
enemy. 

KETREAT IS ORDERED 

"Orders were therefore sent to the corps commanders to 
continue their retreat as soon as they possibly could toward 
the general line of Vermand, St. Quentin and Ribemont, and 
the cavalry under General Allenby were ordered to cover the 
retirement. Throughout the 25th and far into the evening 
the First Corps continued to march on Landrecies, following 
the road along the eastern border of the forest of Mormal, 
and arrived at Landrecies about 10 o'clock. I had intended 
that the corps should come further west so as to fill up the 
gap between Le Cateau and Landrecies, but the men were 
exhausted and could not get further in without a rest. 

"The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest and 
about 9:30 that evening the report was received that the 
Fourth Guards brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked 



150 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

by troops of the Ninth German army corps, who were coming 
through the forest to the north of the town. 

FRENCH AID IS GIVEN 

"At the same time information reached me from Sir Doug- 
las Haig that his first division was also heavily engaged south 
and east of Marilles. I sent urgent messages to the com- 
mander of two French reserve divisions on my right to come 
up to the assistance of the First Corps, which they eventually 
did. 

"By about 6 in the afternoon the Second Corps had got 
into position, with their right on Le Cateau, their left in the 
neighborhood of Caudry, and the line of defense was con- 
tinued thence by the fourth division toward Seranvillers. 

"During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry 
became a good deal scattered, but by early morning of the 
26th General Allenby had succeeded in concentrating two 
brigades to the south of Cambrai. 

"On the 24th the French cavalry corps, consisting of three 
divisions under General Sordet, had been in billets, north of 
Avesnes. On my way back from Vavay, which was my poste 
de commandemente during the fighting of the 23d and the 
24th, I visited General Sordet and earnestly requested his co- 
operation and support. He promised to obtain sanction from 
his army commander to act on my left flank, but said that 
his horses were too tired to move before the next day. 

"Although he rendered me valuable assistance later on in 
the course of the retirement, he was unable for the reasons 
given to afford me any support on the most critical day of all 
— namely, the 26th. 

GERMANS USE HEAVY GUNS 

"At daybreak it became apparent that the enemy was 
throwing the bulk of his strength against the left of the posi- 
tion occupied by the Second Corps and the fourth division. At 
this time the guns of four German army corps were in posi- 
tion against them, and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien reported 
to me that he judged it impossible to continue his retirement 
at daybreak. 

"I sent him orders to use his utmost endeavors to break 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 151 

off the action and retire at the earliest possible moment, as it 
was impossible for me to send him support. 

"The French cavalry corps under General Sordet was 
coming up on our left rear early in the morning, and I sent 
him an urgent message to do his utmost to come up and sup- 
port the retirement of my left flank, but owing to the fatigue 
of his horses he found himself unable to intervene in any 
way. 

' ' There had been no time to intrench the position properly, 
but the troops showed a magnificent front to the terrible fire 
which confronted them. 

ARMY FACED ANNIHILATION 

"At length it became apparent that if complete annihila- 
tion was to be avoided retirement must be attempted, and the 
order was given to commence it about 3 :30 in the afternoon. 
The movement was covered with most devoted intrepidity and 
determination by the artillery, which had itself suffered 
heavily, and the fine work done by the cavalry in the further 
retreat from the position assisted materially the final comple- 
tion of this most difficult and dangerous operation. 

"I cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of 
the British troops without putting on record my deep appre- 
ciation of the valuable services rendered by Sir Horace Smith- 
Dorrien. I say without hesitation that the saving of the left 
wing of the army under my command on the morning of the 
26th could never have been accomplished unless a commander 
of rare and unusual coolness, intrepidity and determination 
had been present to personally conduct the operations. 

t c rj^g re t r eat was continued far into the night of the 26th 
and through the 27th and the 28th, on which date the troops 
halted on the line from Noyon, Chauny and LeFere. 

PRAISES SORDET 's HELP 

"On the 27th and 28th I was much indebted to General 
Sordet and the French cavalry division which he commands 
for materially assisting my retirement and successfully driv- 
ing back some of the enemy on Cambrai. General d'Amade 
also, with the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Reserve divisions, 
moved down from the neighborhood of Arras on the enemy's 



152 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

right flank and took much pressure off the rear of the British 
forces. 

1 ' This closed the period covering the heavy fighting which 
commenced at Mons on Sunday afternoon, August 23, and 
which really constituted a four days' battle. 

"I deeply deplore the very serious losses which the Brit- 
ish forces suffered in this great battle, but they were inevi- 
table, in view of the fact that the British army — only a few 
days after concentration by rail — was called upon to with- 
stand the vigorous attack of five German army corps. 

"It is impossible for me to speak too highly of the skill 
evinced by the two general officers commanding army corps, 
the self-sacrificing and devoted exertions of their staffs, the 
direction of troops by the divisional, brigade and regimental 
leaders, the command of small units by their officers and the 
magnificent fighting spirit displayed by the noncommissioned 
officers and men. 

[Signed] "J. D. P. French, 
"Field Marshal." 

TOLD BY A WOUNDED SOLDIER 

A British soldier, who was wounded in the fight during 
the retreat from Mons, told the following story of the battle 
there : 

"It was Sunday, August 23, and the British regiments 
at Mons were merry-making and enjoying themselves in lei- 
sure along the streets. Belgian ladies, returning from church, 
handed the soldiers their prayer books as souvenirs, while 
the Belgian men gave the men cigarettes and tobacco. 

"About noon, when the men were beginning to think about 
dinner, a German aeroplane appeared overhead and began 
throwing out a cloud of black powder, which is one of their 
favorite methods of assisting batteries to get the range. 

"No sooner had the powder cloud appeared than shrapnel 
began to burst overhead and in a moment all was confusion 
and uproar. But it didn't take the regiments long to get into 
fighting trim and race through the city to the scene of opera- 
tions, which was on the other side of the small canal, in the 
suburbs. 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 153 

' ' Here our outposts were engaging the enemy fiercely. The 
outposts lost very heavily, most of the damage being done 
by shells. The rifle fire was ineffective, although at times 
the lines of contenders were not more than 300 yards apart. 

"The first reinforcements to arrive were posted in a glass 
factory, the walls of which were loop-holed, and we doggedly 
held that position until nightfall, when we fixed bayonets and 
lay in wait in case the enemy made an attempt to rush the po- 
sition in the darkness. 

DESTROY BRIDGES BEHIND THEM 

"About midnight orders came to retire over the canal and 
two companies were left behind to keep the enemy in check 
temporarily. After the main body had crossed the bridge 
was blown up, leaving the two outpost companies to get across 
as best they could by boats or swimming. Most of them man- 
aged to reach the main body again. 

"The main body retired from the town and fell back 
through open country, being kept moving all night. When 
daylight arrived it was apparent from higher ground that 
Mons had been practically blown away by the German artil- 
lery. 

"Throughout the morning we continued to fight a rear- 
guard action, but the steady march in retreat did not stop 
until 6 o'clock in the evening, when the British found them- 
selves well out of range of the German artillery in a quiet 
valley. 

"Here all the troops were ordered to rest and eat. As 
they had been without food since the previous morning's 
breakfast it was rather amusing to see the soldiers going into 
the turnip fields and eating turnips as though they were 
apples. 

"At 8 o'clock all lights were extinguished, the soldiers 
were ordered to make no noise and the pickets pushed a long 
distance backward. Long before dawn the troops were hastily 
started again and continued the retirement. 

"By noon the enemy was again heard from and a large 
detachment was assigned the task of fighting to protect our 
rear. 



154 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

WATCH DUEL IN AIR 

"During the afternoon both the German and British 
armies watched a duel in the air between French and German 
aeroplanes. The Frenchman was wonderfully clever, and 
succeeded in maneuvering himself to the upper position, 
which he gained after fifteen minutes of reckless effort. Then 
the Frenchman began blazing away at the German with a 
revolver. 

"Finally he hit him, and the wounded German attempted 
to glide down into his own lines. The glide, however, ended 
in the British lines near my detachment, the West Kent In- 
fantry. We found the aviator dead when we reached the ma- 
chine. We buried him and burned the aeroplane. 

"At dusk a halt was made for food, and as the Germans 
had fallen behind the English spent a quiet night. At dawn, 
however, we found the Germans close to our heels, and several 
regiments were ordered to prepare intrenchments. This is 
tedious and tiresome work, especially in the heat and with- 
out proper food, but we quickly put up fortifications which 
were sufficient to protect us somewhat from the artillery 
fire. 

"It was not long before the German gunners found the 
range and began tearing up those rough fortifications, con- 
centrating their fire on the British batteries, one of which was 
completely demolished. Another found itself with only six 
men. Both these disasters bore testimony to the excellent 
markmanship of the German gunners. 

OFFICER. SPIKES THE GUNS 

"As it became evident that we must leave these guns be- 
hind and continue the retreat, an officer was seen going around 
putting the guns out of action, so that they would be of no 
use to the Germans. His action required cool bravery, be- 
cause the Germans, having found the range, continued firing 
directly at these batteries. 

"Things rapidly got hotter, and the commanding officer 
ordered a double-quick retreat. We were not long in doing 
the retiring movement to save our own skins. 

"I was wounded at this time by a Maxim bullet. For a 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 155 

moment I thought my head had been blown off, but I recov- 
ered and kept on running until I reached a trench, where I 
had an 'opportunity to bandage the wound. I rushed off to 
the ambulances, but found the doctors so busy with men 
worse off than I that I went back to my place in the line." 

THE BATTLE AT CHAKLEKOI 

The loss of life in the Franco-German battle near Char- 
leroi was admittedly the greatest of any engagement up to 
that time. It was at Charleroi that the Germans struck their 
most terrific blow at the allies' lines in their determination 
to gain the French frontier. Though the tide of battle ebbed 
and flowed for awhile the French were finally forced to give 
way and to retreat behind their own frontier, while the Brit- 
ish were being forced back from their position at Mons. The 
fighting along the line was of the fiercest kind. It was a 
titanic clash of armies in which the allies were compelled to 
yield ground before the superior numbers of the German host. 

One of the wounded, who was taken to hospital at Dieppe, 
said of the fighting at Charleroi : 

"Our army was engaging what we believed to be a sec- 
tion of the German forces commanded by the crown prince 
when I was wounded. The Germans at one stage of the bat- 
tle seemed lost. They had been defending themselves almost 
entirely with howitzers from strongly intrenched positions. 
The Germans were seemingly surrounded and cut off and were 
summoned to surrender. The reply came back that so long 
as they had ammunition they would continue to fight. 

"The howitzer shells of the Germans seemed enormous 
things and only exploded when they struck the earth. When 
one would descend it would dig a hole a yard deep and split 
into hundreds of pieces. Peculiarly enough the howitzer 
shells did much more wounding than killing. The other shells 
of the Germans, like cartridges, the supply of which they 
seemed to be short of, did only little damage. 

AEEOS CONSTANTLY ABOVE 

"The German aeroplane service was perfect. An air- 
craft was always hovering over us out of range. We were 
certain within an hour after we sighted an aeroplane to get 



156 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

the howitzers among us. Whenever we fired, however, we did 
terrific execution with our seventy-five pieces of artillery. I 
counted in one trench 185 dead. Many of them were killed 
as they were in the act of firing or loading. 

''The ground occupied by the Germans was so thick with 
dead that I believe I saw one soldier to every two yards. You 
might have walked for a mile on bodies without ever putting 
foot to the ground. They buried their dead when they had 
time, piling fifteen or twenty in a shallow pit. ' ' 



THE FRENCH IN ALSACE-LORRAINE 

On August 9 the advance guard brigade of the French 
right wing, under General Pau, a veteran of the Franco-Prus- 
sian war of 1870-71, invaded Alsace, fought a victorious action 
with an intrenched German force of equal numbers and occu- 
pied Muelhausen and Kolmar. The news of the French entry 
into the province lost in 1871 was received all over France 
with wild enthusiasm. The mourning emblems on the Stras- 
burg monument in Paris were removed by the excited popu- 
lace and replaced by the tricolor flag and flowers in token of 
their joy. Muelhausen was soon after retaken by the Ger- 
man forces, only to be recaptured later by the French and 
then evacuated once more. 

On the day of the first French occupation of Muelhausen 
France declared war against Austria in consequence of the 
arrival of two Austrian army corps on the Rhine to assist 
the main German army. 

After the French occupation of Muelhausen a large Ger-. 
man army was sent to the front in Alsace-Lorraine and suc- 
ceeded in dislodging the French from that city, but not with- 
out severe fighting. 

Two weeks after the war began the French defeated a 
Bavarian corps in Alsace and for awhile General Pau more 
than held his own in that former province of France. On 
August 21 the Germans drove back the French who had in- 
vaded Lorraine, and occupied Luneville, ten miles inside the 
French border. 

About the same time the French reoccupied Muelhausen, 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 157 

after three days' fighting around the city. Another French 
army was reported to be within nineteen miles of Metz. But 
before the end of the month the French had been compelled 
to evacuate both their former provinces. They continued 
during September, however, to make frequent assaults on 
the German frontier positions, but without regaining a sure 
foothold on German soil, the bulk of their efforts being de- 
voted to the defense of their own frontier strongholds. 

FIGHTING AROUND NANCY 

An official dispatch from the foreign office in Paris, dated 
August 28, said : 

''Yesterday the French troops took the offensive in the 
Vosges mountains and in the region between the Vosges and 
Nancy, and their offensive has been interrupted, but the Ger- 
man loss has been considerable. 

"Our forces found, near Nancy, on a front of three kilo- 
meters, 2,500 dead Germans, and near Vitrimont, on a front 
of four kilometers, 4,500 dead. Longwy, where the garrison 
consisted of only one battalion, has capitulated to the Crown 
Prince of Germany after a siege of twenty-four days. ' ' 

FRENCH TRAPPED IN ALSACE 

The German view of early operations in Alsace-Lor- 
raine was given in the following dispatch September 2 from 
the headquarters of the general staff at Aix-la-Chapelle : 

"The French forces were trapped in Alsace-Lorraine. 
Realizing that the French temperament was more likely to be 
swayed by sentiment than by stern adherence to the rules 
of actual warfare, the German staff selected its own battle 
line and waited. The French did not disappoint. They 
rushed across the border. They took Altkirch with little oppo- 
sition. Then they rushed on to Muelhausen. Through the 
passes in the Vosges mountains they poured, horse, artillery, 
foot — all branches of the service. Strasburg was to fall and 
so swift was the French movement that lines of communi- 
cation were not guarded. 

"Then the German general staff struck. Their troops 
from Saarburg, from Strasburg and from Metz, under the 
command of General von Heeringen, attacked the French all 



158 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

along the line. They were utterly crushed. The Germans 
took 10,000 Frenchmen prisoners and more than one hundred 
guns of every description. Alsace-Lorraine is now reported 
absolutely cleared of French troops. 

1 'The armies of Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm and of 
Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria are moving in an irre- 
sistible manner into France. In a 3-day battle below Metz 
the French were terribly cut up and forced to retreat in al- 
most a rout. It is declared that in this engagement the French 
lost 151 guns and were unable to make a stand against the vic- 
torious Germans until they had passed inside of their sec- 
ondary line of defense." 

THE GERMAN "SPY POSTERS " 

Just prior to the declaration of war, cable dispatches from 
Paris told of a remarkable series of posters dotting the coun- 
tryside of France. These posters, innocently advertising 
"Bouillon Kub," a German soup preparation, were so clev- 
erly printed by the German concern advertising the soup, 
that they would act as signals to German army officers lead- 
ing their troops through France. 

In one of our photographic illustrations, one of these 
"spy posters" is seen posted on the left of an archway past 
which the French soldiers are marching en route to meet the 
Germans near the Alsace frontier. 

The ingenuity of the signs was remarkable. Thus a square 
yellow poster would carry the information, "Food in abun- 
dance found here," while a round red sign would advertise, 
' ' This ground is mined. ' ' Many geometrical figures and most 
of the colors were utilized, and animal forms, flowers and 
even the American Stars and Stripes were employed to con- 
vey their messages of information. 

The French Minister of the Interior got wind of the sys- 
tem, and orders were telegraphed throughout France to de- 
stroy these posters. Bouillon Kub, therefore, is no longer ad- 
vertised in France. 

a soldier's experience under fire 

A wounded French soldier described his experiences un- 
der fire during the Alsace campaign. He said in part : 



EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 159 

" There! A blow in the breast, a tearing in the body, a 
fall with a loud cry and a terrible pain; there I lay one of 
the victims of this terrible day. My first sensation was anger 
at the blow, my second an expectation of seeing myself ex- 
plode, for, judging by the sound of the ball, I believed I had a 
grenade in my body; then came the pain, and with it help- 
lessness and falling. 

"Oh, how frightful are those first moments! Where I 
was hit, how I was wounded, I could form no idea; I only 
felt that I could not stir, saw the battalion disappear from 
sight and myself alone on the ground, amid the fearful howl- 
ing and whistling of the balls which were incessantly striking 
the ground around me. 

"With difficulty could I turn my head a little, and saw 
behind me two soldiers attending on a third, who was lying on 
the ground. Of what happened I can give no account except 
that I cried for help several times as well as I could, for the 
pain and burning thirst had the upper hand. At last both of 
them ran to me, and with joy I recognized the doctor and 
hospital attendant of my company. 

" 'Where are you wounded?' was the first question. I 
could only point. My blouse was quickly opened, and in the 
middle of the breast a bloody wound was found. The balls 
still constantly whizzed around us; one struck the doctor's 
helmet, and immediately I felt a violent blow on the left arm. 
Another wound ! With difficulty I was turned round, to look 
for the outlet of the bullet ; but it was still in my body, near 
the spine. At last it was cut out. They were going away — 
' The wound in the arm, doctor. ' This, fortunately, was looked 
for in vain ; the ball had merely caused a blue spot and had 
sunk harmlessly into the ground. 

"I extended my hand to the doctor and thanked him, as 
also the attendant, whom I commissioned to ask the sergeant 
to send word to my family. The doctor had carefully placed 
my cloak over me, with my helmet firmly on my head, in order 
in some measure to protect me from the leaden hail. 

"Thus I lay alone with my own thoughts amid the most 
terrible fire for perhaps an hour and a half. All my thoughts, 
as far as pain and increasing weakness allowed, were fixed on 



160 EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR 

my family. Gradually I got accustomed to the danger which 
surrounded me, and only when too much sand from the strik- 
ing bullets was thrown on my body did I remember my little 
enviable position. At last, after long, long waiting, the sani- 
tary detachment came for me. ' ' 

THE REAL TRAGEDY OF WAR 

It is not a pleasant picture — this story of the French sol- 
dier. It has little in it of the grandeur, the beat of drums, 
the sound of martial music, which is supposed to accompany 
war. The tread of marching feet has died away, the excite- 
ment is gone, and man the demon is supplanted by man the 
everyday human creature of suffering and home folks and 
fear. 

It is only a personal account of an individual experience, 
yet in it may be found the real significance and the real trag- 
edy of war ; for, after the fighting is over, after the intoxica- 
tion of legalized murder has gone, after nations turn their 
attention from victories to men, it is the aggregate of indi- 
vidual experiences which counts the costs of war. 

Thousands of German, French, Belgian, Austrian, Eus- 
sian, and British men in the prime of life have been miserably 
slain and lie in obscure graves of which the enemy now is the 
guardian, while others writhe in the agony of lingering wounds 
or sullenly brood over their fate in the dull routine of mili- 
tary prisons. In every part of the warring countries mothers 
weep over the sons they shall see no more, and wives over 
the husbands snatched from them forever. In many a man- 
sion, in many a comfortable home, in many a peasant's cot- 
tage, the empty chair is eloquent of the absent father, brother, 
husband or son who shall be absent forever. 



CHAPTER X 

OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

Dispatches of the Wolff Telegraphic Agency as Given to the 
German People During the March on Paris — Reports 
of Military and Naval Operations from the Standpoint 
of the German General Staff. 

THE complete official reports of the German Wolff Tele- 
graphic Agency, dealing with military operations up to 
the time when the German advance on Paris was checked 
are given below. These dispatches were carefully censored 
and while given out on the dates mentioned do not in all cases 
refer to engagements occurring on those dates. They present 
the German official version of the operations in the field, both 
east and west, as given to the German people, for whom they 
were prepared, and make an intensely interesting recital in 
comparison with the fuller and more highly colored reports 
that emanated from British, French and Russian sources dur- 
ing the same period. Naturally enough, nothing is said in 
these dispatches about the efficiency and gallantry of the 
forces of the enemy in the operations referred to. 

START OF HOSTILITIES RELATED 

AUG. 3. — The commander of the small cruiser Augsburg, 
Capt. Andreas Fisher, gives the following message by signal : 
' ' I am bombarding the war harbor of Libau and am in conflict 
with enemy's cruiser. I have laid mines. The war harbor of 
Libau is burning." 

Luxemburg has been occupied by troops of the Eighth 
Army Corps to protect the German railroad there. 

In the night of the 1st and 2d of August an enemy's air- 
ship was observed in flight from Ker Kerjeuich to Andernach. 
On the same night a hotelkeeper of Kochem and his son made 

161 



162 OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

an attempt to blow up the Kochem tunnel. Both were shot. 
Airships of the enemy were observed flying from Duren 
toward Cologne. A French airship was shot down near 
Wesel. 

In Eydkuhnen Russian patrols have entered and the post- 
office at Bilderweitschen has been destroyed. The enemy 
crossed the frontier at many places. 

ATTACK BY RUSSIAN PATROLS 

The Russian patrols attacked the railway bridge over the 
Warthe at Eichenried. Two Germans were slightly wounded ; 
Russian losses not known. At attempt of the Russians to 
attack the Miloslaw was prevented. 

The railway authorities at Johannisburg and forest offi- 
cials of Bialla report that tonight strong Russian columns 
with artillery crossed the frontier at Schwidden southeast of 
Bialla and that two squadrons of Cossacks are riding in the 
direction of Johannisburg. The telephone connection be- 
tween Lueck and Bialla has been cut. 

German railroad workers near Illowo retired under the 
fire of Russians. 

Although no German soldier is on French soil, the French 
have crossed the German frontier without declaring war and 
have occupied the villages of Gothestal, Metzertal and Mar- 
kirch and have occupied the Schlucht pass. A further viola- 
tion of neutrality lies in the fact that French fliers in great 
numbers have flown into Germany over Belgium and Holland. 

SAY FRENCH VIOLATED NEUTRALITY 

AUG. 4. — Until now no German troops have crossed the 
French frontier. French troops, however, have attacked our 
frontier posts since Sunday; this in spite of the agreements 
of the French government to respect a neutral zone of ten 
kilometers on both sides of the frontier. French companies 
have occupied German villages since last night. Bomb throw- 
ing aviators have flown into Baden and Bavaria and through 
Belgium into the Rhine provinces, thereby violating Belgian 
neutrality. They are attempting to destroy our railroads. 

Consequently, France has commenced the attack upon us 
and brought about war. The safety of the empire forces us 



OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 163 

into retaliation. The Kaiser has given the necessary orders. 
The German ambassador in Paris has been told to obtain his 
passes. 

GREAT BRITAIN DECLARED WAR 

AUG. 5. — Yesterday afternoon, shortly after the speech of 
the chancellor, in which he openly admitted that Belgian ter- 
ritory had been occupied, thereby committing a breach of 
international law, and had declared the willingness of the 
German government to indemnify for whatever harm was 
done, the English ambassador, Sir Edward Goschen, appeared 
in the reichstag to present to Secretary von Jagow a message 
from his government. 

In this message was a request that the German govern- 
ment should answer as quickly as possible the question 
whether it would give the assurance that there would be no 
violation of Belgian neutrality. Secretary von Jagow an- 
swered at once that this was not possible, and again explained 
why it was that Germany was forced to take steps to prevent 
an invasion of the French army. 

Shortly after 7 o'clock the English ambassador appeared 
in the foreign office to declare war and to request his passes. 
As we hear, the government placed military requirements 
before anything else, although it was forced to reckon with 
the fact that such action would give England reasons or a pre- 
tense to intervene. 

RUSSIAN DEFENSES BROKEN 

Shortly after troops at Soldau left this morning to attack 
strong Russian cavalry, which were attempting penetration 
into East Prussia, they were attacked by a strong brigade of 
Russian cavalry. Under the fire of German troops the Rus- 
sian cavalry attack failed because of most severe losses. The 
Russian cavalry brigade was destroyed. 

Yesterday afternoon German cavalry attacked Kabarty, 
the Russian frontier village east of Stallupoenen. The garri- 
son of Kabarty fled from the village, which was then occu- 
pied. A division of Russian cavalry which watched the 
conflict did not take part. The enemy's frontier defense is 
herewith broken through, which is for us of the greatest im- 
portance. The Russian detachment is being followed. 



164 OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

GERMAN CAVALRY GREETED 

AUG. 6. — German cavalry yesterday occupied Wilun, 
south of Kalisz. They were treated by the population with 
rejoicing. 

Briey, northwest of Metz, has been occupied by German 
troops. 

Russian cavalry divisions attempted to break through the 
German frontier defenses at Schwidden, east of Johannis- 
burg, and Grotken, between Lautenburg and Soldau. They 
were thrown back and retired to Russian territory. 

The Russian cavalry division which was thrown back at 
Soldau received further losses at its return to Russia at 
Neidenburg. 

LIEGE ATTACK NOT A DEFEAT 

AUG. 7. — Our vanguards entered Belgium day before yes- 
terday and an insignificant detachment made with the great- 
est bravery a surprise attack upon Liege. A few mounted 
men entered the city and sought to overpower the commander, 
who was only saved from capture by flight. The surprise 
attack on the modern fortification itself was unsuccessful. 

Troops are in contact with the enemy in front of the forti- 
fication. Naturally the entire press of our enemy will stamp 
this attempt, which has no importance upon the progress of 
military operations, as a defeat. For us, however, is this one 
of the solitary eternal deeds in the history of war and an evi- 
dence of the death-daring enterprise of our troops. 

CAPTURE OF LIEGE REPORTED 

AUG. 8. — The stronghold Liege has been taken. After 
the detachments which attempted the surprise attack upon 
Liege had been strengthened the attack was carried out. Yes- 
terday morning at 8 o'clock the stronghold was in German 
possession. 

CRUISER AMPHION SUNK 

AUG. 9. — Fairly reliable rumors say that the Koenigin 
Luise, a North Sea steamer taken over by the imperial marine, 
was attacked while laying mines by an English torpedo boat 
flotilla under the convoy of the small cruiser Amphion and 
was sunk. The Amphion itself struck one of the mines laid 



OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 165 

by the Koenigin Luise and went down. The English lost 130 
men and 150 were saved. Some of the six officers and 140 
men of the Koenigin Luise also were saved. 

The third Russian cavalry division crossed the frontier 
at Romeiken, south of Eydkuhnen, but upon the appearance 
of German cavalry retired to Russian soil. Work is pro- 
gressing in Poland to restore the railroads destroyed by the 
Russians, as also is the work on the bridge between Schop- 
onitz and Sosnowice. The railway Alexandrowno-Wlozlawek 
is again passable. 

German frontier troops in Upper Alsace have been at- 
tacked by the French coming from the direction of Belfort. 
The advance of the French troops was halted and at AltMrch 
they are already retiring in the direction of Belfort. 

enemy's loss heavy at liege 

AUG. 10. — Liege is safe in our hands. The loss of the 
enemy was heavy; our losses will be made public as soon as 
they are reliably known. The transportation of 3,000 to 
4,000 Belgian prisoners has already commenced. According 
to dispatches at hand one-fourth of the Belgian army faced 
us at Liege. 

The frontier troops at Bialla, ten kilometers east of Jo- 
hannisburg, have thrown back an attacking Russian cavalry 
brigade. Eight guns and many ammunition wagons fell into 
our hands. 

fkench defeat at MUELHAUSEN 

AUG. 11. — The enemy advancing in the direction of Muel- 
hausen from Belfort was forced from a fortified position west 
of Muelhausen and thrown back in a southerly direction. The 
losses of our troops were not heavy; the French losses were 
great. This French force was apparently the 7th army corps 
and an infantry division of the garrison of Belfort. 

Three companies of the frontier troops at Eydkuhnen, 
supported by hastily advancing field artillery, have thrown 
back the 3d Russian cavalry division across the frontier at 
Schleuben. 

PRISONERS TAKEN IN LORRAINE 

AUG. 12. — A mixed brigade of the French 15th army 
corps, which had been pushed forward, was engaged by our 



166 OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

troops near Lagarde in Lorraine. The enemy was thrown 
back with heavy losses into the forest of Paroy northwest of 
Luneville, and left in our hands one flag, two batteries, four 
machine guns, and about 700 prisoners. One French general 
has fallen. 

His imperial majesty's armored cruiser Goeben and the 
small cruiser Breslau reached the neutral Italian port of Mes- 
sina Aug. 5, after their enterprise on the Algerian coast, and 
coaled up from German ships. The harbor was watched by 
English warships which had come into contact with our ves- 
sels. Nevertheless they were able on the evening of the 6th 
of August to break through from Messina and to win the high 
seas. Further it is impossible to tell for particular reasons. 

German submarines have, in the last few days, sailed 
along the east coast of England and Scotland, clear to the 
Shetland islands. It is impossible to give any further in- 
formation concerning the results of this trip. 

GERMAN SOIL " CLEARED OF ENEMY" 

AUG. 13. — Near Muelhausen German troops have cap- 
tured ten French officers and 513 men. Further, four guns, 
ten conveyances and a large number of rifles were captured. 
German soil is cleared of the enemy. 

AUG. 14. — Near Lagarde, more than 1,000 unwounded 
prisoners of war have fallen into the hands of the German 
troops, more than a sixth of the two French regiments that 
were in action. 

AUG. 15. — In the east two Russian cavalry divisions, fol- 
lowed by infantry, have pressed forward. After they had 
burned a small town, Margrabowa, lying near the border, 
these troops have again retired across the frontier. A Rus- 
sian cavalry corps stationed near Mlawa has retired south 
before the advance of a German column. 

Otherwise the gathering and placing of the troops is being 
carried out according to plans. Not a single hostile action 
has been able, up to the present moment, either to turn aside 
or hold up the German plan of action. All contrary reports 
spread by enemies are false. 

AUG. 17. — The Kaiser left Berlin at 8 o'clock yesterday 
(Sunday) morning in the direction of Mayence. 



OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 167 

AUG. 18. — The action near Muelhausen was an unfore- 
seen occurrence. One and one-half hostile army corps had 
pushed their way into upper Alsace while our troops in that 
neighborhood were still gathering. Notwithstanding, they 
attacked the enemy without hesitation and threw him back 
in the direction of Belfort. After this they followed out their 
prearranged plan of march. 

In the meanwhile a small detachment from the garrison 
of Strassburg was defeated on the 14th of the month. Two 
battalions with cannons and machine guns had forced their 
way into the Schirmeck pass in the Vosges mountains. They 
were overpowered by hostile artillery fire from Donon. In 
the narrow road through the pass cannon and machine guns 
had been shot to pieces and were left there, useless. In any 
case they were seized as booty and the enemy later marched to 
Schirmeck. This is an insignificant war occurrence, that has 
no influence on the operations, but which will stand as a warn- 
ing example to our troops of foolhardiness and carelessness. 

The garrison troops once more rallied and reached the 
fortress unfollowed. Although they lost their guns, they did 
not lose their courage. Whether treason on the part of the 
peasant landholders entered into the occurrence is yet to be 
determined. 

RUMORS OF SEA BATTLE 

From a trip of several submarines along the English 
coast, the boat U15 has not yet come back. According to 
reports in English newspapers the U15 was destroyed in a 
battle with English war vessels. What losses if any resulted 
from this it is not possible to determine. 

Mlaw (on the railway line Marienburg-Warsaw) has been 
occupied by German troops. 

AUG. 19. — On the 17th an action took place near Stall- 
upoenen in which troops of the 1st army corps fought with 
unequaled courage so that a victory was gained. More than 
3,000 prisoners have fallen into our hands. A large number 
of Russian machine guns that could not be brought back were 
rendered useless. 



168 OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

FIRST CONFLICT NEAR NAMUR 

AUG. 20. — The French 5th cavalry division was thrown 
back by our cavalry near Pervez, north of Namur, with heavy 
losses. 

Bavarian and Badenese troops defeated the French 55th 
infantry brigade, which had pushed forward to Weiler, fifteen 
kilometers northwest of Schlettstadt, inflicted heavy losses 
and threw the enemy back over the Vosges. 

Our troops took one field battery, a heavy battery, a flag 
and 500 prisoners at Tirlemont. Our cavalry took from the 
enemy two guns and two machine guns near Pervez. 

BRITISH SUBMARINE SUNK 

AUG. 20. — The two small cruisers, Strassburg and Stral- 
sund have in the last days made a dash into the southern part 
of the North Sea. The Strassburg sighted two hostile sub- 
marines under the English coast, one of which she sank at 
some distance with a few shots. The Stralsund exchanged 
shots with several torpedo boat destroyers at a distance. Two 
destroyers were damaged. 

On this occasion, as well as on a scouting trip of airships 
clear to the Skagerack, it was determined that the German 
coast and German waters were free from hostile vessels, and 
that neutral shipping could pass unhindered. 

A telegram from Kiaochow in indorsement of the message 
concerning the Japanese ultimatum reads : 

11 Stand ready to carry out my duty to the end. 

1 1 GOUVERNEUR. ' ' 
GERMANS OCCUPY BRUSSELS 

AUG. 21. — German troops entered Brussels yesterday. 

Under the leadership of the Crown Prince of Bavaria, 
troops of all German countries won a victory yesterday be- 
tween Metz and the Vosges. The enemy, pushing forward 
in Lorraine with strong forces, was thrown back all along 
the line with heavy losses. Many thousand prisoners and a 
large number of guns were taken. 

The entire result of the battle cannot yet be estimated, as 
the battle field takes up more space than our entire army took 
up in the battles of 1870-71. Our troops, inspirited by an irre- 



OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 169 

sistible forward motion, are following the enemy and have 
kept up the battle till the present time. 

AUG. 22. — The French forces defeated by our troops be- 
tween Metz and the Vosges were followed by our troops yes- 
terday. The retreat of the French has become a rout. To 
the present moment more than 10,000 prisoners have been 
taken, and at least fifty guns have been seized. The strength 
of the defeated forces is set at more than eight army corps. 

TAKE 8,000 RUSSIAN PRISONERS 

AUG. 23. — Strong Russian forces are advancing against 
the line Gumbinen-Angerburg. The 1st army corps again 
engaged troops advancing against Gumbinen Aug. 20 and 
threw them back. 

On this occasion 8,000 prisoners and eight guns were taken. 
No word had been heard for some time from one division of 
the army corps. This division had fought against two hostile 
cavalry divisions and yesterday returned to the 1st army 
ccrps with 500 prisoners. Further Russian reinforcements 
are advancing north of the Pergel and south of the Masurian 
sea line. Concerning the further conditions silence must still 
be kept, in order that our actions be not betrayed. 

Concerning the advances in the west, further information 
will be given out in a short time. A new attempt of the enemy 
to march into upper Alsace has been defeated by the victory 
in Lorraine. The enemy in upper Alsace also is retreating. 

VICTORIES ON FRENCH BORDER 

AUG. 24. — The troops under the leadership of the Crown 
Prince of Bavaria, who were victorious in Lorraine, have 
crossed the Luneville-Blamont-Cirey line. The 21st army 
corps entered Luneville today. The pursuit is beginning to 
bring fruits. Besides large numbers of prisoners and colors, 
the left wing, pressing forward into the Vosges, has already 
made booty of 150 guns. 

The army of the German crown prince has today carried 
the pursuit onward toward Longwy. That of Duke Albert 
of Wuerttemberg advancing on both sides of Neuf chateau has 
completely defeated a French army which had pressed over 
the Semois. Duke Albert is now in pursuit. Large numbers 



170 OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

of guns, colors and prisoners, including several generals, have 
fallen into their hands. 

West of the Meuse our troops are pressing forward on 
Maubeuge. An English cavalry division advancing against 
their front has been defeated. 

CROWN PRINCE NEAR LONGWY 

North of Metz the German crown prince and his army, 
advancing on both sides of Longwy, have thrown back the 
enemy. The German guns have been booming before Namur 
since day before yesterday. 

From Sarayevo the following message has been received 
by the general marine staff: 

"On the 20th of August the Servian position, 950 meters 
high, at Visegrad, was taken. Marines were in the first line. 
Three dead, two officers and twenty-one men injured. Condi- 
tion of men excellent. Maj. Schneider." 

This has reference to our Scutari detachment, which, since 
retirement from Scutari, has joined the Austrian operations. 

FORTS AT NAMUR FALL 

AUG. 25. — Of the fortress of Namur, five forts and the 
city are in our possession. Four forts are being bombarded. 
Their fall appears to be near. 

AUG. 27. — All the forts of Namur have fallen, as has also 
Longwy after brave resistance. Against the left wing of the 
army of the German crown prince strong forces have marched 
from Verdun in the east, which have been beaten back. Upper 
Alsace has been cleared of the French, except for small de- 
tachments west of Colmar. 

CRUISER MAGDEBURG SUNK 

The small cruiser Magdeburg in the course of a dash into 
Finnish waters ran aground in the neighborhood of the Island 
Odensholm in a fog. Assistance from other ships was im- 
possible because of the thick weather. As it was impossible 
to bring the ship off it was blown up during engagement with 
a far greater number of Russian warships and sank honor- 
ably. 

Under the enemies' fire a greater part of the crew of the 
cruiser was rescued by the torpedo boat "V26." The losses 




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© Sun Printing and Publishing Assn 



A remarkable combined attack near Cambrai. Massed German brigade decimated at short range 
by masked French artillery and field guns, supported by British cavalry. This incident occurred 
during the retreat of the allies from Mons and Charleroi, a deadly trap being laid for the advancing 
German infantry. A desultory fire from the French infantry, stationed at intervals between the 
masked guns, drew the Germans across an intervening field. As the French rifle fire was purposel.v 




iminished, a massed brigade of Germans proceeded to cross the fatal ground. When they were within 
range of about 250 yards, the French artillery suddenly sent a hurricane of shrapnel through the 
lerman ranks, while the ambuscaded machine guns, it is said, literally cut many of the German 
afantrymen in two. — Drawn by H. W. Koekkek from sketches supplied by Dr. N. Monroe Hopkins, 
n eyewitness of the scene.. 




*..h 



rV*J? 

mi •«. 



■a e 




© International News Service. 

1. A Belgian Dog-Drawn Machine Gun at Liege. 

2. Dog Artillery Getting into Position for Action on a Frontier Hilltop. 




CHARGE OF THE BRITISH 9TII LAWYERS ON A GERMAN BATTERY DURING THE 

BATTLE OP MONS 

The battery had inflicted heavy losses on the British troops. All the gunners were cut 
down and the guns put out of action. — Drawn by Dudley Tennant for The Graphic, from 
notes by a trooper. 



OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 171 

of the Magdeburg and the "V26" have not been exactly de- 
termined. Up to the present moment seventeen dead, twenty- 
one wounded and eighty-five missing, among them the com- 
mander of the Magdeburg, have been reported. The rescued 
will reach the German harbor today. The list of the lost will 
be given out as soon as possible. 

ENGLISH COMPLETELY DEFEATED 

AUG. 28. — The English army, which had been joined by 
three French territorial divisions, has been completely de- 
feated north of St. Quentin. The entire army is retreating 
over St. Quentin. Several thousand prisoners, several field 
batteries and a heavy battery have fallen into our hands. 

Southeast of Mezieres our troops are pushing the fight 
across the Meuse along a wide front. After nine days of 
mountain fighting our left wing has pushed the French moun- 
tain troops back into the neighborhood east of Epinal and is 
advancing farther victoriously. 

FRENCH CANNOT AID BELGIANS 

Brussels' mayor informed the German commander that 
the French government has declared to the Belgian govern- 
ment that it is in nowise able to assist in offensive movements 
as France herself has been forced to take the defensive 
throughout. 

AUG. 29. — Manonvillier, the strongest outer fort of the 
French, is in possession of the Germans. 

Our troops in east Prussia, under the leadership of Gen- 
eral von Hindenberg, have defeated the advancing Russian 
Narew army, five army corps and three cavalry divisions 
strong, in a three-day battle in the neighborhood of Gilgen- 
burg and Ortelsburg and are following them across the 
border. 

NAVAL LOSS AT HELIGOLAND 

Yesterday morning, under the cover of fog, several Eng- 
lish cruisers and two English torpedo boat flotillas (about 
twenty destroyers), stole up into the German gulf of the 
North Sea, northwest of Heligoland. Several single engage- 
ments took place between them and our lighter war vessels. 



172 OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 

Small German cruisers pressed steadily toward the west 
and in so doing, because of the thick weather, were brought 
into contact with several large armored cruisers. The Ger- 
man cruiser Ariadne, fired upon at close range by heavy guns 
from the cruisers of the Lion class, sank after an honorable 
conflict. The greater part of the crew, about 250 men, was 
saved. 

In addition, the torpedo boat V187 went down under heavy 
bombardment from a small cruiser and ten destroyers. She 
went down with guns firing. The chief of the flotilla and the 
commander fell. The greater part of the crew was saved. 

Two small cruisers, the Koeln and the Mainz, were missed. 
According to a Reuter dispatch from London they were sunk 
in battle at the same time against superior forces. A part 
of their crews (nine officers and eighty-one men) apparently 
were rescued by English ships. According to the same source, 
the English ships were badly damaged. 

LINER SUNK IN NEUTRAL PORT 

AUG. 31. — According to a report from Las Palmas, the 
North German Lloyd steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, 
outfitted as a German auxiliary cruiser, was sunk by the Eng- 
lish cruiser Highflyer as she lay at anchor in the neutral 
waters of the Spanish colony of Rio del Oro. 

SEPT. 1. — The army of General von Kluck drove back 
an attempted French flank attack in the neighborhood of 
Combles, using one army corps. The army of General von 
Buelow, after having taken prisoner an English infantry bat- 
talion in the course of his advance, has completely defeated 
an outnumbering French army at St. Quentin. The army of 
General von Hausen has pushed back the enemy on the Aisne 
near Rethel. 

ADVANCE TOWARD THE AISNE 

The army of the Duke of Wuerttemberg, while crossing 
the Meuse, came in contact with stronger hostile forces and 
was forced to return in part over the river. The army once 
more won the crossing and is now advancing toward the 
Aisne. The fort Les Aqvelles, in the rear of the army, has 
fallen. 



OFFICIAL GERMAN REPORTS 



173 



Forces of the German crown prince have continued the 
advance toward and over the Meuse. The fortress of Mont- 
medy fell after the commander and the entire garrison were 
taken prisoners in the course of a sally. The armies of the 
crown prince of Bavaria and of General von Heeringen are 
continuing the battle in French Lorraine. 

GREAT VICTORY OVER RUSSIA 

In the east the reported victory of the army of General 
von Hindenberg takes on greater importance than was at first 
supposed. Notwithstanding the renewed opposition which 
the enemy offered at Neidenburg, their defeat was complete. 
Three army corps have been destroyed and 60,000 prisoners, 
among these two commanding generals, many guns and col- 
ors, have fallen into our hands. The remaining Russian 
troops in northern East Prussia have begun to retreat. 




NAPOLEON'S DOUBLE 

" The world's mine oyster, which I witb sword wiU open " 

— Vorw&rts (New York) 



CHAPTER XI 

GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 

Allies Withdraw for Ten Days, Disputing Every Inch of 
Ground With the Kaiser's Troops — Germans Push 
Their Way Through France in Three Main Columns — 
Official Reports of the Withdrawing Engagements — 
Paris Almost in Sight. 

FLUSHED with their successes over the Allies at Mons 
and Charleroi, the Germans pushed their advance 
toward the French capital with great celerity and vigor. 
During the last week of August and the first few days of 
September, it appeared inevitable that the experience of 
Paris in 1870-71 was to be repeated and that a siege of the 
city by the German forces would follow immediately. 

It was conceded that the armies of the Allies had been 
forced back and that Paris was endangered. The German 
advance was general, all along the line. The flower of the 
Kaiser's army had marched through Belgium and pushed 
back the lines of the Allies to the formidable rows of forti- 
fications that surround Paris. The Germans advanced in 
three main columns, constantly in touch with one another, 
from the right, passing through Mons, Cambrai and Amiens, 
to the extreme left in Lorraine. The center threatened Ver- 
dun, and from that point the right advance swept through 
Northern France like an opening fan, with the fortress of 
Verdun as the pivot. 

Three million men were engaged in the main struggle. 
"When the Germans first reached the Franco-Belgian frontier 
near Charleroi they were opposed by 700,000 French and 150,- 
000 British troops. After being driven back the Allies began 

174 



GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 175 

assembling 1,000,000 men between the frontier and Paris. 
The Allies hoped to hold the whole German army in check 
while the Russians pursued their successes in eastern Ger- 
many. French troops guarded the entire frontier, battling 
to check the other German invading columns. The holding of 
the Germans, once they broke through the fortifications that 
formed the chief reliance of the French, would be impossible. 
The next stand would be around Paris, which was well forti- 
fied. The invaders were, of course, attempting to get through 
where there were no forts. 

ALLIES MAKE STRENUOUS RESISTANCE 

Strenuous resistance to the onward movement of the Ger- 
man enemy was made by the Allies from day to day, but for 
a period of ten days there was an almost continual retire- 
ment of the French and British upon Paris. It was in fact a 
masterly retreat, but a retreat nevertheless. From the line 
of La Fere and Mezieres, occupied by the Allies after the bat- 
tles at Mons and Charleroi, they fell back 70 miles in seven 
days, disputing every step of the way, but withdrawing grad- 
ually to the line of defenses around the French capital. From 
Cambrai the Germans pushed through Amiens to Beauvais; 
from Peronne to Roye, Montdidier, Creil, and on to the forest 
of Chantilly. From the region of Le Cateau and St. Quen- 
tin the German advance was by Noyon to Compiegne (famous 
for its memories of Joan of Arc's famous sortie), at which 
point the Allies made a desperate stand and the Germans had 
to fight for every inch of ground. They then passed through 
Senlis, which was first bombarded, down to Meaux, almost 
within sight of Paris, the head of the German army resting 
on a line between Beaumont, Meaux and La Ferte, at which 
point the resistance of the Allies finally forced a change in 
German plans. 

Other German forces passed through Laon, Soissons and 
Chateau Thierry. Farther to the east, the road from Mezieres 
led the Germans to Rheims, Mourmelon, and opposite Chalons 
on the River Marne. 

Another German army from the direction of Longwy, 
under the command of the Crown Prince, was operating 
through Suippes and on the wooded Argonne plateau, with 



176 GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 

its five passes, famous in the action of 1792 which preceded 
the battle of Valmy. At the entrance to this hilly country 
stands the little town of Sainte Menehould, where there was 
severe fighting with the French. Here the German Crown 
Prince made his headquarters. 

The great plain of the Argonne is full of most wonderful 
ecclesiastical buildings and many magnificent cathedrals, 
townhalls and ancient fortresses were passed by the warring 
armies in their advance and withdrawal, some of these his- 
toric structures sustaining irreparable damage. 

The German advance continued southward toward Paris 
until September 4. 

RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF THE BRITISH 

All reports agree that during the retirement of the Allies, 
the Germans pursued the British headquarters staff with un- 
canny precision throughout the ten days from Mons back to 
Compiegne. After fierce street fighting in Denain and Lan- 
drecies Sir John French withdrew his headquarters to Le 
Cateau, which was at once made the target of a terrific bom- 
bardment. The town caught fire, burning throughout one 
night, and the British headquarters had to be evacuated, this 
time in favor of St. Quentin, in the local college. Here the 
same thing happened and Field Marshal French was com- 
pelled once more to retire, to the neighborhood of Com- 
piegne. 

In an official report issued on Sunday, September 6, it is 
stated that, "The 5th French army on August 29 advanced 
from the line of the Oise River to meet and counter the Ger- 
man forward movement and a considerable battle developed 
to the south of Guise. In this the 5th French army gained a 
marked and solid success, driving back with heavy loss and in 
disorder three German army corps, the 10th, the Guard, and 
a reserve corps. In spite of this success, however, and all 
the benefits which flowed from it, the general retirement to 
the south continued and the German armies, seeking persist- 
ently after the British troops, remained in practically con- 
tinuous contact with the rearguards. 

"On August 30 and 31 the British covering and delaying 
troops were frequently engaged, and on September 1 a very 



GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 177 

vigorous effort was made by the Germans, which brought 
about a sharp action in the neighborhood of Compiegne. This 
action was fought principally by the 1st British Cavalry Bri- 
gade and the 4th Guards .Brigade and was entirely satisfactory 
to the British. The German attack, which was most strongly 
pressed, was not brought to a standstill until much slaughter 
had been inflicted upon them and until ten German guns had 
been captured. The brunt of this affair fell upon the Guards 
Brigade, which lost in killed and wounded about 300 men." 
This affair was typical of the numerous rearguard en- 
gagements fought by both the British and the French forces 
during their retirement. 

MASTEELY TACTICS IN RETIRING 

Pressing hard upon the rear of the Allies for ten days was 
the greatest military machine that has ever been assembled in 
one cohesive force. Through Belgium had poured nearly 
2,000,000 German troops, made up of about 800,000 first-line 
soldiers and more than 1,000,000 reserves. The twenty-six- 
hour march of part of the German army through Brussels 
was stunning evidence of the might of the "war machine," 
and despite fierce fighting all the way, the great army had 
never faltered in its 150-mile advance in Belgium. 

But the numerical might of the German advance was 
matched by the masterly tactics of the Allies in retiring. By 
these tactics, in which General Joffre, the French commander- 
in-chief, co-operated with the British field-marshal, Sir John 
French, the Allies prevented their lines being overwhelmed 
by the superior numbers of their foe, but the German right 
flank and center, strung out over a line more than 150 miles 
long, northeast of Paris, kept smashing on. Losses were 
frightfully heavy, but the Kaiser's order was "Take Paris!" 

It was believed certain that the German general staff had 
staked everything on investing Paris immediately, by com- 
pletely breaking down the opposition massed between the Ger- 
man lines and the city. Paris had therefore prepared for the 
siege, with her great circles of forts strengthened and her 
food supply replenished. Many of the residents fled the city 
in panic, fearing a repetition of the dread days of 1871, with 
their privation and distress, but the spirit of the French peo- 



178 GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 

pie generally remained unshaken and General Gallieni, mili- 
tary governor of Paris, assumed complete control of the situ- 
ation in the city. 

GOVERNMENT MOVED TO BORDEAUX 

On August 26 the French cabinet had resigned in a body 
and it was reconstructed on broader lines under Premier 
Viviani to meet the demands of the national emergency. 

German troops were reported within 40 miles of Paris on 
September 3, and at 3 A. M. of that day a proclamation was 
issued by President Poincare, announcing that the seat of 
government would be temporarily transferred from Paris to 
Bordeaux. The minister of the interior stated that this de- 
cision had been taken "solely upon the demand of the military 
authorities because the fortified places of Paris, while not 
necessarily likely to be attacked, would become the pivot of 
the field operations of the two armies. ' ' 

The text of President Poincare 's proclamation was as 
follows : 

"endure and fight!" 

"Frenchmen: For several weeks our heroic troops have 
been engaged in the fierce combat with the enemy. The cour- 
age of our soldiers has won for them a number of marked ad- 
vantages. But in the north the pressure of the German forces 
has constrained us to retire. This situation imposes on the 
president of the Eepublic and the government a painful de- 
cision. 

"To safeguard the national safety the public authorities 
are obliged to leave for the moment the city of Paris. Under 
the command of its eminent chief, the French army, full of 
courage and spirit, will defend the capital and its patriotic 
population against the invader. But the war must be pursued 
at the same time in the rest of the French territory. 

"The sacred struggle for the honor of the nation and the 
reparation of violated rights will continue without peace or 
truce and without a stop or a failure. None of our armies 
has been broken. 

"If some of them have suffered only too evident losses, the 
gaps in the ranks have been filled up from the waiting reserve 



GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 179 

forces, while the calling out of a new class of reserves brings 
us tomorrow new resources in men and energy. 

' 'Endure and fight! Such should be the motto of the allied 
army, British, Russians, Belgians and French. 

''Endure and fight! While on the sea our allies aid us to 
cut the enemy's communications with the world. 

"Endure and fight! While the Russians continue to carry 
a decisive blow to the heart of the German empire. 

"It is for the government of this republic to direct this re- 
sistance to the very end and to give to this formidable 
struggle all its vigor and efficiency. It is indispensable that 
the government retain the mastery of its own actions. On 
the demand of the military authorities the government there- 
fore transfers its seat momentarily to a point of the territory 
whence it may remain in constant relations with the rest of 
the country. It invites the members of parliament not to 
remain distant from the government, in order to form, in the 
face of the enemy, with the government and their colleagues, 
a group of national unity. 

1 ' The government does not leave Paris without having as- 
sured a defense of the city and its entrenched camp by all 
means in its power. It knows it has not the need to recom- 
mend to the admirable Parisian population a calm resolution 
and sangfroid, for it shows every day it is equal to its great- 
est duties. 

"Frenchmen, let us all be worthy of these tragic circum- 
stances. We shall gain a final victory and we shall gain it by 
untiring will, endurance and tenacity. A nation that will not 
perish, and which, to live, retreats before neither suffering 
nor sacrifice, is sure to vanquish." 

The removal of the French government departments to 
Bordeaux was accomplished within twenty-four hours and 
the southern city became at once a center of remarkable ac- 
tivity. Ambassador Herrick, representing the United States, 
remained in Paris to render aid to his fellow-countrymen who 
were seeking means of returning to America and were more 
than ever anxious to get away when a state of siege became 
imminent. 



180 



GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 



A radical change in the French military operations was 
put in effect after the Germans had swept in from Belgium, 
and had taken the cities of Lille, Roubaix, and Longwy. The 
French army had attempted to strike and shatter the Germans 
at their weakest point, and failed. 

Paris prepared for the worst when the Kaiser's conquer- 
ing army reached La Fere, about seventy miles away. From 
Amiens to La Fere the Germans pressed their attack hardest. 
As the Allies were seen to be gradually falling back, reserve 
troops were assembled in Paris and the forts put in readiness 
for siege. 

THE FORTIFICATIONS OF PAEIS 

Paris has one of the strongest fortification systems of any 
city in the world. The siege of the giant city would be a much 
greater undertaking than forty-four years ago, as the forti- 




MAF OF FRENCH CAPITAL, WITH STABS INDICATING: POSITION OF FOBTIFICATIONS. 



GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 181 

fications have been essentially augmented and strengthened 
since the Franco-Prussian war. 

The fortifications consist of the old city walls, the old belt 
of forts and the new enceinture of the fortified camps, which 
have been advanced far outside of the reach of the old forts. 
The main wall, ten meters (33 feet) high, consists of ninety- 
four bastions and is surrounded by a ditch fifteen meters wide. 
Behind the wall a ringroad and a belt line run around the city. 

The belt of old forts surrounds this main fortification of 
the city at a little distance and consists of not less than six- 
teen forts. Those farthest advanced are hardly half a mile 
distant from the main wall. The experiences of the last war, 
the immense progress of the artillery, and especially the 
wider reach of the modern siege guns induced the French 
army authorities to build a belt of still stronger forts, which 
surrounds the old fortress of 1870 like a protective net. The 
forts, redoubts and batteries belonging to this last belt of 
fortifications are situated at least two miles from the city 
limits proper, and even Versailles is taken into this belt of 
fortifications. 

The circumference of the circle formed by them is 124 
kilometers (nearly 77 miles) and the space included in it 
amounts to 1,200 square kilometers. This new belt of fortifi- 
cations consists of seven forts of the first class, sixteen forts 
of the second class and fifty redoubts or batteries, which are 
connected with each other by the " Great Belt Line," of 113 
kilometers (71 miles). 

FORM LARGE FORTIFIED CAMPS 

The strongest of these forts form fortified camps, large 
enough to give protection to strong armies and also the pos- 
sibility for a new reconcentration. There are three of these 
camps. The northern camp includes the fortifications from 
the Fort de Cormeilles on the left to the Fort de Stains on 
the right wing, with the forts of the first class, Cormeilles 
and Domont, and the forts of the second class, Montlignon, 
Montmorency, Ecouen and Stains, and it is protected in the 
rear by the strong forts in the vicinity of St. Denis. The 
eastern camp goes from the Ourcq canal and the forest of 
Bondy to the Seine, and its main strongholds are the forts of 



182 GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 

Vaujours and Villeneuve-St. Georges, with the smaller forts 
of Chelles, Villiers, Champigny and Sully. 

On the left bank of the Seine the southwestern camp is 
situated, including Versailles, whose main forts are those of 
St. Cyr, Haut-Buc, Villeras and Palaiseau, to which the large 
redubt of Bois d'Arcy and the forts of Chatillon and Hautes- 
Bruyeres, situated a little to the rear, belong likewise. 

To invest this strongest fortress of the world the line of 
the Germans ought to have a length of 175 kilometers and to 
its continuous occupation, even if the ring of the investing 
masses were not very deep, a much greater number of troops 
would be necessary than were used in 1870 for the siege of 
Paris. 

GERMAN AMMUNITION CAPTURED 

A correspondent at Nanteuil, September 12, thus described 
the capture of a German ammunition column while the Ger- 
mans were feeling their way toward Paris: 

"The seven-kilometer column was winding its way along 
Crepy-en-Valois when General Pau sent cavalry and artillery 
to intercept it. The column was too weakly guarded to cope 
with the attack, and so was captured and destroyed. This 
capture had an important bearing on the subsequent fighting. 

"A noticeable feature of the operations has been the splen- 
did marching qualities of the French troops. This was dis- 
played especially when two divisions, which were sent to 
intercept the expected attempt of the Germans to invest Paris, 
covered eighty kilometers (491/2 miles) in two stages." 

ALLIES PLAN TO PROTECT PARIS 

The plan of the Allies on September 1 was to make a deter- 
mined stand before Paris, in the effort to protect the city from 
the horrors of a siege. With their left wing resting on the 
strongly fortified line of the Paris forts and with their right 
wing strengthened by the defensive line from Verdun to Bel- 
fort, they would occupy a position of enormous military 
strength. If the Germans concentrated to move against their 
front the French reserve armies could assemble west of the 
Seine, move forward and attack the German invading columns 
in flank. 



GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS 



183 



If in their effort to continue the great turning movement 
the Germans pushed forward across the Seine and attempted 
by encircling Paris to gain the rear of the allied armies, the 
French could mass their reserve corps behind their center at 
Rheims, push forward against the weakened German center 
in an attack that if successful would cut off the German 
invading columns and expose them to annihilation. 

Such were the conditions and the possibilities when the 
German advance reached its climax on September 4. 




POSITION OF HOSTILE ARMIES. SEPTEMBER 4, 1914 

Heavy dotted line denotes battle front of the Allies; lighter line the position 
of the German Troops. 



CHAPTER XII 

BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

German Plans Suddenly Changed — Direction of Advance 
Swings to the Southeast When Close to the French 
Capital — Successful Resistance by the Allies — The 
Prolonged Encounter at the Marne — Germans Retreat 
With Allies in Hot Pursuit for Many Miles. 

SUDDENLY the German plans were changed. With Paris 
almost in sight, almost within the range of their heavy 
artillery, the German forces on the right of the line on 
September 4 changed the direction of their advance to a 
southeasterly course, which would leave Paris to the west. 
The people of the gay capital, who for several days had been 
preparing themselves once more for the thunder of the Prus- 
sian guns, began to breathe more freely, while all the world 
wondered at the sudden and spectacular transformation in 
the conditions of the conflict. 

What had happened? Why was the advance thus checked 
and the march on Paris abandoned? Was it a trick, designed 
to lead the Allies into a trap? Or were the German troops 
too exhausted by forced marches and lack of rest to face the 
determined resistance of the allied forces before Paris? 

These were the questions on every tongue, on both sides 
of the Atlantic, while the military experts sought strategic 
reasons for the change in German plans. 

When the movement towards the east began the right 
of the German forces moved through Beaumont and L'Isle 
towards Meaux, apparently with the intention of avoiding 
Paris. Their front some twenty-four hours later was found 
to be extending across the River Marne as far south as Cou- 

184 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 185 

lommiers and La Ferte-Gaucher, the two opposing lines at 
that time stretching between Paris on the left flank and Ver- 
dun on the right. 

On Monday, September 7, there came news that the south- 
ward movement of the German army had been arrested, and 
that it had been forced back across the Marne to positions 
where the German right wing curved back from La Ferte- 
sous-Jouarre along the bank of the River Ourcq, a tributary 
of the Marne, to the northward of Chateau Thierry. All this 
territory forms part of the district known as the "Bassin de 
Paris." 

Then came a turn in the tide of war and the German plans 
were temporarily lost sight of when the Allies assumed the 
offensive along the Marne and the Ourcq and the Germans 
began to fall back. For four days their retreat continued. 
Ten miles, thirty miles, forty-five miles, back toward the 
northeast and east the invaders retired and Paris was 
relieved. The tide of battle had thrown the Germans away 
from the French capital and Frenchmen believed their retire- 
ment was permanent. 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

Important and interesting details of the battle of the 
Marne and the movements that preceded it are given in an 
official report compiled from information sent from the head- 
quarters of Field Marshal Sir John French (commander-in- 
chief of the British expeditionary forces), under date of Sep- 
tember 11. This account describes the movements both of 
the British force and of the French armies in immediate 
touch with it. It carries the operations from the 4th to the 
10th of September, both days inclusive, and says: 

"The general position of our troops Sunday, September 6, 
was south of the River Marne, with the French forces in line 
on our right and left. Practically there had been no change 
since Saturday, September 5, which marked the end of our 
army's long retirement from the Belgian frontier through 
Northern France. 

"On Friday, September 4, it became apparent that there 
was an alteration in the advance of almost the whole of the 



186 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

first German army. That army since the battle near Mons 
on the 23d of August had been playing its part in a colossal 
strategic endeavor to create a Sedan for the Allies by out- 
flanking and enveloping the left of their whole line so as to 
encircle and drive both the British and French to the south. 

THE CHANGE IN GERMAN STRATEGY 

"There was now a change in its objective and it was 
observed that the German forces opposite the British were 
beginning to move in a southeasterly direction instead of con- 
tinuing southwest on to the capital, leaving a strong rear 
guard along the line of the River Ourcq (which flows south of 
and joins the Marne at Lizy-sur-Ourcq) to keep off the French 
Sixth Army, which by then had been formed and was to the 
northwest of Paris. They were evidently executing what 
amounted to a flank march diagonally across our front. 

"Prepared to ignore the British as being driven out of 
the fight, they were initiating an effort to attack the left flank 
of the main French army, which stretched in a long curved 
line from our right toward the east, and so to carry out 
against it alone an envelopment which so far had failed 
against the combined forces of the Allies. 

"On Saturday, the 5th, this movement on the part of the 
Germans was continued and large advance parties crossed the 
Marne southward at Trilport, Sammeron, La Ferte-sous- 
Jouarre and Chateau Thierry. There was considerable fight- 
ing with the French Fifth Army on the French left, which 
fell back from its position south of the Marne toward the 
Seine. 

"On Sunday large hostile forces crossed the Marne and 
pushed on through Coulommiers and past the British right, 
farther to the east. They were attacked at night by the 
French Fifth, which captured three villages at the point of 
bayonets. 

ALLIES TAKE THE OFFENSIVE 

"On Monday, September 7, there was a general advance 
on the part of the Allies. In this quarter of the field our 
forces, which had now been reinforced, pushed on in a north- 
easterly direction in co-operation with the advance of the 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 187 

French Fifth Army to the north and of the French Sixth 
Army to the eastward against the German rearguard along 
the River Ourcq. 

"Possibly weakened by the detachment of troops to the 
eastern theater of operations and realizing that the action of 
the French Sixth Army against the line of Ourcq and the 
advance of the British placed their own flanking movement in 
considerable danger of being taken in the rear and on its 
flank, the Germans on this day commenced to retire toward 
the northeast. 

"This was the first time that these troops had turned back 
since their attack at Mons a fortnight before and from reports 
received the order to retreat when so close to Paris was a 
bitter disappointment. From letters found on dead soldiers 
there is no doubt there was a general impression among the 
enemy's troops that they were about to enter Paris. 

GERMAN RETREAT IS HASTENED 

"On Tuesday, September 8, the German movement north- 
eastward was continued. Their rear guards on the south of 
the Marne were being pressed back to that river by our troops 
and by the French on our right, the latter capturing three 
villages after a hand-to-hand fight and the infliction of severe 
loss on the enemy. 

' ' The fighting along the Ourcq continued on this day and 
was of the most sanguinary character, for the Germans had 
massed a great force of artillery along this line. Very few 
of their infantry were seen by the French. The French Fifth 
Army also made a fierce attack on the Germans in Montmirail, 
regaining that place. 

"On Wednesday, September 9, the battle between the 
French Sixth Army and what was now the German flank 
guard along the Ourcq continued. 

"The British corps, overcoming some resistance on the 
River Petit Morin, crossed the Marne in pursuit of the Ger- 
mans, who now were hastily retreating northwest. One of 
our corps was delayed by an obstinate defense made by a 
strong rear guard with machine guns at La Ferte-sous- 
Jouarre, where the bridge had been destroyed. 



188 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

"On Thursday, September 10, the French Sixth Army 
continued its pressure on the west while the Fifth Army by 
forced marches reached the line of Chateau Thierry and Dor- 
mans on the Marne. Our troops also continued the pursuit 
on the north of the latter river and after a considerable 
amount of fighting captured some 1,500 prisoners, four guns, 
six machine guns and fifty transport wagons. 

' ' Many of the enemy were killed or wounded and the nu- 
merous thick woods which dot the country north of the Marne 
are filled with German stragglers. Most of them appear to 
have been without food for at least two days. 

"Indeed, in this area of the operations, the Germans seem 
to be demoralized and inclined to surrender in small parties. 
The general situation appears to be most favorable to the 
Allies. 

"Much brutal and senseless damage has been done in the 
villages occupied by the enemy. Property has been wantonly 
destroyed. Pictures in chateaus have been ripped up and 
houses generally have been pillaged. 

"It is stated on unimpeachable authority also that the 
inhabitants have been much ill-treated. 

TRAPPED IN A SUNKEN EOAD 

"Interesting incidents have occurred during the fighting. 
On the 10th of September part of our Second Army Corps, 
advancing into the north, found itself marching parallel with 
another infantry force some little distance away. At first it 
was thought this was another British unit. After some time, 
however, it was discovered that it was a body of Germans 
retreating. 

"Measures promptly were taken to head off the enemy, 
who were surrounded and trapped in a sunken road, where 
over 400 men surrendered. 

"On September 10 a small party under a noncommissioned 
officer was cut off and surrounded. After a desperate resist- 
ance it was decided to go on fighting to the end. Finally the 
noncommissioned officer and one man only were left, both of 
them being wounded. 

"The Germans came up and shouted to them: 'Lay down 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 189 

your arms!' The German commander, however, signed to 
them to keep their arms and then asked to shake hands with 
the wounded noncommissioned officer, who was carried off on 
his stretcher with his rifle by his side. 

"Arrival of reinforcements and the continued advance 
have delighted our troops, who are full of zeal and anxious to 
press on. 

SUCCESS OF THE FLYING CORPS 

' ' One of the features of the campaign on our side has been 
the success obtained by the Royal Flying Corps. In regard to 
the collection of information it is impossible either to award 
too much praise to our aviators for the way they have car- 
ried out their duties or to overestimate the value of the intelli- 
gence collected, more especially during the recent advance. 

"In due course certain examples of what has been effected 
may be specified and the far-reaching nature of the results 
fully explained, but that time has not arrived. 

"That the services of our Flying Corps, which has really 
been on trial, are fully appreciated by our allies is shown by 
the following message from the commander-in-chief of the 
French armies, received September 9 by Field Marshal Lord 
Kitchener : 

" 'Please express most particularly to Marshal French 
my thanks for the services rendered on every day by the 
English flying corps. The precision, exactitude and regu- 
larity of the news brought in by its members are evidence of 
their perfect organization and also of the perfect training 
of the pilots and the observers. — Joseph Joffre, General.' 

"To give a rough idea of the amount of work carried out 
it is sufficient to mention that during a period of twenty days 
up to the 10th of September a daily average of more than nine 
reconnaissance flights of over 100 miles each has been main- 
tained. 

FIVE GERMAN PILOTS SHOT 

"The constant object of our aviators has been to effect an 
accurate location of the enemy's forces and, incidentally, 
since the operations cover so large an area, of our own units. 
Nevertheless, the tactics adopted for dealing with hostile air 
craft are to attack them instantly with one or more British 



190 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

machines. This has been so far successful that in five cases 
German pilots or observers have been shot while in the air 
and their machines brought to ground. 

"Asa consequence the British Flying Corps has succeeded 
in establishing an individual ascendancy which is as service- 
able to us as it is dangerous to the enemy. 

"How far it is due to this cause it is not possible at present 
to ascertain definitely, but the fact remains that the enemy 
have recently become much less enterprising in their flights. 
Something in the direction of the mastery of the air already 
has been gained in pursuance of the principle that the main 
object of military aviators is the collection of information. 

"Bomb dropping has not been indulged in to any great 
extent. On one occasion a petrol bomb was successfully 
exploded in a German bivouac at night, while from a diary 
found on a dead German cavalry soldier it has been discov- 
ered that a high explosive bomb, thrown at a cavalry column 
from one of our aeroplanes, struck an ammunition wagon, 
resulting in an explosion which killed fifteen of the enemy." 



LOSSES AT THE MARNE ENORMOUS 

Some idea of the terrific character of the fighting at the 
Marne and of the great losses in the prolonged battle may be 
gained from the following story, telegraphed on September 14 
by a correspondent who followed in the rear of the allied 
army: 

"General von Kluck's host in coming down over the 
Marne and the Grand Morin rivers to Sezanne, twenty-five 
miles southwest of Epernay, met little opposition, and I 
believe little opposition was intended. The Allies, in fact, 
led their opponents straight into a trap. The English cavalry 
led the tired Germans mile after mile, and the Germans 
believed the Englishmen were running away. When the tre- 
mendous advance reached Provins the Allies' plan was 
accomplished, and it got no farther. 

"Fighting Sunday, September 6, was of a terrible char- 
acter, and began at dawn in the region of La Ferte-Gaucher. 
The Allies' troops, who were drawn up to receive the Ger- 
mans, understood it would be their duty to hold on their very 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 191 

best that the attacking force at Meaux might achieve its task 
in security. The battle lasted all night and until late Monday. 

"The Germany artillery fire was very severe, but not 
accurate. The French and English fought sternly on and 
slowly beat the enemy back. 

"Attempts of the Germans to cross the Marne at Meaux 
entailed terrible losses. Sixteen attempts were foiled by the 
French artillery fire directed on the river and in one trench 
600 dead Germans were counted. 

COUNTRY STREWN WITH DEAD 

"The whole country was strewn with the dead and dying. 
When at last the Germans retired they slackened their rifle 
fire and in once place retired twelve miles without firing a 
single shot. One prisoner declared that they were short of 
ammunition and had been told to spare it as much as 
possible. 

"Monday saw a tremendous encounter on the Ourcq. In 
one village, which the Germans hurriedly vacated, the French 
in a large house found a dinner table beautifully set, with 
candles still burning on the table, where evidently the German 
staff had been dining. A woman occupant said they fled pre- 
cipitately. 

"There was a great deal of hand-to-hand fighting and 
bayonet work on the Ourcq, which resulted in the terrible 
Magdeburg regiment beating a retreat. 

"Monday night General von Kluck's army had been 
thrown back from the Marne and from the Morin and to the 
region of Sezanne and his position was serious. Immediate 
steps were necessary to save his line of communications and 
retreat. To this end reinforcements were hurried north to 
the Meaux district and the Ourcq and tremendous efforts were 
made to break up the French resistance in this section. 

GERMAN GUNS ARE SILENCED 

"The second attempt on the Ourcq shared the fate of the 
first. Though all Monday night and well on into Tuesday 
the great German guns boomed along this river, the resistance 
of the allies could not be broken. 'Hold on!' was the com- 
mand and every man braced himself to obey. While the 



192 BATTLE OF THE MAKNE 

Oureq was being held the struggle of Sezanne was bearing 
fruit. 

"The German resistance on Thursday morning was 
broken. I heard the news in two ways : from the silence of 
the German guns and from the wounded who poured down to 
the bases. 

"The wounded men no longer were downhearted, but eager 
to rejoin the fray. On every French lip was the exclamation 
that 'They are in full retreat!' and 'They are rushing back 
home!' and in the same breath came generous recognition of 
the great help given by the British army. 

"The number of wounded entailed colossal transportation 
work. I counted fifteen trains in eight hours. A fine, grim 
set of men, terribly weary but amiable, except for the officers. 

GERMANS LEAVE SPOILS BEHIND 

"The enemy crossed the Marne on the return journey 
north under great difficulties and beneath a withering fire 
from the British troops, who pursued them hotly. The Ger- 
man artillery operated from a height. There was again much 
hand-to-hand fighting and the river was swollen with dead. 

"Tuesday night the British were in possession of La Ferte- 
sous-Jouarre and Chateau Thierry and the Germans had 
fallen back forty miles, leaving a long train of spoils behind 
them. 

"On the same day, in the neighborhood of Vitry-le-Fran- 
cois, the French troops achieved a victory. Incidentally they 
drove back the famous Imperial Guard of Germany from 
Sezanne, toward the swamps of Saint Gond, where, a century 
ago, Napoleon achieved one of his last successes. The main 
body of the guard passed to the north of the swamps, but I 
heard of men and horses engulfed and destroyed. 

" 'It is our revenge for 1814,' the French officers said. 
'If only the emperor were here to see.' 

BRITISH KEEP UP PURSUIT 

"Wednesday the English army continued the pursuit to- 
ward the north, taking guns and prisoners. 

1 ' On that day I found myself in a new France. The good 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 198 

news had spread. Girls threw flowers at the passing soldiers 
and joy was manifested everywhere. 

"The incidents of Wednesday will astound the world when 
made known in full. I know that two German detachments of 
1,000 men each, which were surrounded and cornered hut 
which refused to surrender, were wiped out almost to the last 
man. The keynote of these operations was the tremendous 
attack of the Allies along the Ourcq Tuesday, which showed 
the German commander that his lines were threatened. Then 
came the crowning stroke. 

"The army of the Ourcq and of Meaux and the army of 
Sezanne drew together like the blades of a pair of shears, the 
pivot of which was in the region of the Grand Morin. The 
German retreat was thus forced toward the east and it speed- 
ily became a rout." 



EETEEAT SEEN FROM THE SKY 

The best view of the retreating German armies was 
obtained, according to a Paris report, by a French military 
airman, who, ascending from a point near Vitry, flew north- 
ward across the Marne and then eastward by way of Rheims 
down to the region of Verdun and back again in a zigzag 
course to a spot near Soissons. 

He saw the German hosts not merely in retreat, but in 
flight, and in some places in disorderly flight. 

"It was a wonderful sight," the airman said, "to look 
down upon these hundreds and thousands of moving military 
columns, the long gray lines of the Kaiser's picked troops, 
some marching in a northerly, others in a northeasterly direc- 
tion, and all moving with a tremendous rapidity. 

1 ' The retreat was not confined to the highways, but many 
German soldiers were running across fields, jumping over 
fences, crawling through hedges, and making their way 
through woods without any semblance of order or discipline. 

"These men doubtless belonged to regiments which were 
badly cut up in the fierce fighting which preceded the general 
retreat. Deprived of the majority of their officers, they made 
a mere rabble of fugitives. Many were without rifles, having 



194 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

abandoned their weapons in their haste to escape their 
French and British pursuers." 

GERMANS ABANDON GUNS 

The London Times correspondent describes the German 
retreat in a hurricane, with rain descending in torrents, the 
wayside brooks swollen to little torrents. 

"The gun wheels sank deep in the mud, and the soldiers, 
unable to extricate them, abandoned the guns," he said. 

"A wounded soldier, returned from the front, told me 
that the Germans fled as animals flee which are cornered and 
know it. 

' ' Imagine the roadway littered with guns, knapsacks, car- 
tridge belts, Maxims and heavy cannon. There were miles of 
roads like this. 

"And the dead! Those piles of horses and those stacks 
of men I have seen again and again. I have seen men shot so 
close to one another that they remained standing after death. 

"At night time the sight was horrible beyond description. 
They cannot bury whole armies. 

"In the day time over the fields of dead carrion birds 
gathered, led by the gray-throated crow of evil omen with a 
host of lesser marauders at his back. Robbers, too, have 
descended upon these fields. 

"Trainload after trainload of British and French troops 
swept toward the weak points of the retreating host. 

"The Allies benefited by this advantage of the battle- 
gound; there is a network of railways, like the network of a 
spider's web." 

FIGHTING DESCRIBED BY U. S. OFFICERS 

Two military attaches of the United States embassy at 
Paris, Lieut.-Col. H. T. Allen and Capt. Frank Parker, both 
of the Eleventh cavalry, U. S. A., returned on September 15 
from an automobile trip over the battlefield where from Sep- 
tember 8 until the night of September 11 the French and 
Germans were fiercely engaged. This battle was the one 
which assured the safety of Paris. 

On September 1 the German left and center were sep- 
arated, but like a letter "V" were approaching each other, 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 19.5 

with Paris as their objective. Had the Allies attacked at 
that time they would have had to divide their forces and, so 
weakened, give battle to two armies. By retreating they 
drew after them the two converging lines of the V and when 
the Germans were in wedge-shaped formation, attacked them 
on the flank and center at Meaux and made a direct attack at 
Sezanne. 

The four days' battle at Meaux ended with the Germans 
crossing the river Aisne and retreating to the hills north and 
west of Soissons. Col. Allen and Capt. Parker saw the end of 
the battle north of Sezanne, which resulted in the retreat of 
the Germans to Rheims. 

The battles, as Col. Allen and Capt. Parker describe them, 
were as follows: 

On the 8th the Germans advanced from a line stretching 
from Epernay and Chalons, a distance of twenty-five kilome- 
ters (sixteen miles). In this front, counting from the German 
right, were the Tenth, the Guards, the Ninth and Twelfth 
Army Corps. The presence of the Guards, the corps d' elite 
of the German army, suggested that this was intended to be a 
main attack upon Paris and that the army at Meaux was to 
occupy the center. The four combined corps numbered over 
200,000. The French met them, they assert, with 190,000. 

The Germans advanced until their left was at Vitry-le- 
Francois and their right rested at Sezanne, making a column 
15 miles long, headed west toward Paris. The French butted 
the line six miles east of Sezanne, in the forests of La Fere 
and Champenoise. It was here that the greater part of the 
fight occurred. It was fighting at long distance with artillery 
and from trench to trench with the bayonet. 

THIRTY THOUSAND MEN KILLED 

During the four days in which fortune rested first on one 
flag and then on another 30,000 men of both armies are said 
to have been killed and a considerable number of villages were 
wiped from the map by the artillery of both armies. 

Two miles from Sezanne a French regiment was destroyed 
by an ambush. The Germans had thrown up conspicuous 
trenches and with decoys sparsely filled them. From the 
forest in the rear the mitrailleuse was trained on the French. 



196 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

The French infantry charged this trench and the decoys fled, 
making toward the flanks, and as the French poured over the 
trenches the hidden guns swept them. 

In another trench the American attaches counted the 
bodies of more than 900 German guards, not one of whom had 
attempted to retreat. They had stood fast with their shoul- 
ders against the parapet and taken the cold steel. Every- 
where the loss of life was appalling. In places the dead lay 
across each other three and four deep. 

TURCOS FIERCEST FIGHTERS OF ALL 

"The fiercest fighting of all seems to have been done by 
the Turcos and Senegalese. In trenches taken by them from 
the guards and the famous Death's Head Hussars, the Ger- 
mans showed no bullet wounds. In nearly every attack the 
men from the desert had flung themselves upon the enemy, 
using only the butt or the bayonet. Man for man no white 
man drugged for years with meat and alcohol is a physical 
match for these Turcos, who eat dates and drink water," 
said Richard Harding Davis, who saw the end of the fighting 
at Meaux. "They are as lean as starved wolves. They move 
like panthers. They are muscle and nerves and they have the 
comforting belief that to die killing a Christian sends them 
straight to the seventh heaven. 

"As Kipling says, 'A man who has a sneaking desire to 
live has a poor chance against one who is indifferent whether 
he kills you or you kill him.' The French are almost invar- 
iably using these black men to lead the charges. Some think 
this shows they do not value their black brothers. On the 
contrary, they so use him because they know that in help- 
yourself fighting few white men care to face him. ' ' 



NIGHT BATTLE DESCRIBED BY SOLDIER 

The following narrative of a night engagement during the 
prolonged battle of the Marne is quoted from a French sol- 
dier 's letter to a compatriot in London : 

' ' Our strength was about 400 infantrymen. Toward mid- 
night we broke up our camp and marched off in great silence, 
of course not in closed files, but in open order. We were not 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 197 

allowed to speak to each other or to make any unnecessary 
noise, and as we walked through the forest the only sound 
to be heard was that of our steps and the rustling of the 
leaves. It was a perfectly lovely night ; the sky was so clear, 
the atmosphere so pure, the forest so romantic, everything 
seemed so charming and peaceful that I could not imagine 
that we were on the warpath, and that perhaps in a few hours 
this forest would be aflame, the soil drenched by human blood, 
and the fragrant herbs covered with broken limbs. 

"Yet all those silent, armed men, marching in the same 
direction as I did, were ever so many proofs that no peace 
meeting or any delightful romantic adventure was near, and 
I wondered what thoughts were stirring all those brains. 
Suddenly a whisper passed on from man to man. It was the 
officer's command. A halt was made, and in the same whisper 
we were told that part of us had to change our direction so 
that the two directions would form a V. A third division pro- 
ceeded slowly in the original direction. 

COMMANDS ARE WHISPERED 

"I belonged to what may be called the left leg of the V. 
After what seemed to be about half an hour, we reached the 
edge of the forest, and from behind the trees we saw an almost 
flat country before us, with here and there a tiny little hill, a 
mere hump four or five feet high. On the extreme left-hand 
side the land seemed to be intersected by ditches and trenches. 

"Another whispered command was passed from man to 
man, and we all had to lie down on the soil. A moment after- 
ward we were thus making our way to the above-mentioned 
ditches and trenches. It is neither the easiest nor the quickest 
way to move, but undoubtedly the safest, for an occasional 
enemy somewhere on the hills at the farther end of the field 
would not possibly be able to detect us. I don't know how 
long it took us to reach the ditches, which were, for the greater 
part, dry ; nor do I know how long we remained there or what 
was happening. "We were perfectly hidden from view, lying 
flat down on our stomachs, but we were also unable to see any- 
thing. Everybody's ears were attentive, every nerve was 
strained. The sun was rising. It promised to be a hot day. 



198 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

FIRST SHOT IS HEARD 

' ' Suddenly we heard a shot, at a distance of what seemed 
to be a mile or so, followed by several other shots. I ventured 
to lift my body up in order to see what was happening. But 
the next moment my sergeant, who was close by me, warned 
me with a knock on my shoulder not to move, and the whis- 
pered order ran, ' Keep quiet ! Hide yourself ! ' Still, the short 
glance had been sufficient to see what was going on. Our 
troops, probably those who had been left behind in the forest, 
were crossing the plain and shooting at the Germans on the 
crest of the hill, who returned the fire. 

"The silence was gone. We heard the rushing of feet at 
a short distance ; then, suddenly, it ceased when the attacking 
soldiers dropped to aim and shoot. Some firing was heard, 
and then again a swift rush followed. This seemed to last a 
long time, but it was broken by distant cries, coming appar- 
ently from the enemy. I was wondering all the time why we 
kept hidden and did not share in the assault. 

"The rifle fire was incessant. I saw nothing of the battle. 
Would our troops be able to repulse the Germans? How 
strong were the enemy? They seemed to have no guns, but 
the number of our soldiers in that field was not very large. 

ATTACKED WITH BAYONETS 

"A piercing yell rose from the enemy. Was it a cry of 
triumph? A short command rang over the field in French, 
an order to retreat. A swift rush followed; our troops were 
being pursued by the enemy. What on earth were we waiting 
for in our ditches? A bugle signal, clear and bright. We 
sprang to our feet, and 'At the bayonet!' the order came. 
We threw ourselves on the enemy, who were at the same time 
attacked on the other side by the division which formed the 
other 'leg' of the V, while the 'fleeing' French soldiers turned 
and made a savage attack. 

"It is impossible to say or to describe what one feels at 
such a moment. I believe one is in a state of temporary mad- 
ness, of perfect rage. It is terrible, and if we could see our- 
selves in such a state I feel sure we would shrink with horror. 

"In a few minutes the field was covered with dead and 
wounded men, almost all of them Germans, and our hands 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 199 

and bayonets were dripping with blood. I felt hot spurts of 
blood in my face, of other men's blood, and as I paused to 
wipe them off, I saw a narrow stream of blood running along 
the barrel of my rifle. 

"Such was the beginning of a summer day." 



SCENES ON THE BATTLEFIELD 

Writing from Sezanne a few days after the battle of the 
Marne a visitor to the battlefield described the conditions at 
that time as follows: 

"The territory over which the battle of the Marne was 
fought is now a picture of devastation, abomination and death 
almost too awful to describe. 

"Many sons of the fatherland are sleeping their last sleep 
in the open fields and in ditches where they fell or under 
hedges where they crawled after being caught by a rifle bullet 
or piece of shell, or where they sought shelter from the mad 
rush of the f ranc-tireurs, who have not lost their natural dex- 
terity with the knife and who at close quarters frequently 
throw away their rifles and fight hand to hand. 

"The German prisoners are being used on the battlefield 
in searching for and burying their dead comrades. Over the 
greater part of the huge battlefield there have been buried 
at least those who died in open trenches on the plateaus or on 
the high roads. The extensive forest area, however, has 
hardly been searched for bodies, although hundreds of both 
French and Germans must have sought refuge and died there. 
The difficulty of finding bodies is considerable on account of 
the undergrowth. 

"Long lines of newly broken brown earth mark the 
graves of the victims. Some of these burial trenches are 150 
yards long. The dead are placed shoulder to shoulder and 
often in layers. This gives some idea of the slaughter that 
took place in this battle. 

"The peasants, who are rapidly coming back to the scene, 
are marking the grave trenches with crosses and planting 
flowers above or placing on them simple bouquets of dahlias, 
sunflowers and roses. 



200 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

FOUGHT ON BEAUTIFUL CHATEAU LAWNS 

' ' Some of the hottest fighting of the prolonged battle took 
place around the beautiful chateau of Mondement, on a hill 
six miles east of Sezanne. This relic of the architectural art 
of Louis XIV occupied a position which both sides regarded 
as strategically important. 

"To the east it looked down into a great declivity in the 
shape of an immense Greek lamp, with the concealed marshes 
of St. Sond at the bottom. Beyond are the downs and heaths 
of Epernay, Eheims and Champagne, while the heights of 
Argonne stand out boldly in the distance. To the west is a 
rich agricultural country. 

"The possession of the ridge of Mondement was vital to 
either the attackers or the defenders. The conflict here was 
of furnace intensity for four days. The Germans drove the 
French out in a terrific assault, and then the French guns 
were brought to bear, followed by hand-to-hand fighting on 
the gardens and lawns of the chateau and even through the 
breached walls. 

' ' Frenchmen again held the building for a few hours, onl y 
to retire before another determined German attack. On the 
fourth day they swept the Germans out again with shell fire, 
under which the walls of the chateau, although two or three 
feet thick, crumpled like paper." 

The same correspondent described evidences on the battle- 
fields of how abundantly the Germans were equipped with 
ammunition and other material. He saw pyramid after pyra- 
mid of shrapnel shells abandoned in the rout, also innumer- 
able paniers for carrying such ammunition. These paniers 
are carefully constructed of wicker and hold three shells in 
exactly fitting tubes so that there can be no movement. 

The villages of Oyes, Villeneuve, Chatillon and Soizy-aux- 
Bois were all bombarded and completely destroyed. Some 
fantastic capers were played by the shells, such as blowing 
away half a house and leaving the other half intact; going 
through a window and out by the back wall without damaging 
the interior, or going a few inches into the wall and remaining 
fast without exploding. 

Villeneuve, which was retaken three times, was, including 
its fine old church, in absolute ruins. 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 201 

A SERIES OF BATTLES 

The battle line along the Marne was so extended that the 
four-days' fighting from Sunday, September 6, to Thursday 
morning, September 10, when the Germans were in full 
retreat, comprised a series of bloody engagements, each 
worthy of being called a battle. There were hot encounters 
south of the Marne at Crecy, Montmirail and other points. 
At Chalons-sur-Marne the French fought for twenty-four 
hours and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. General Exel- 
mans, one of France's most brilliant cavalry leaders, was 
dangerously wounded in leading a charge. 

There was hard fighting on September 7 between Lagny 
and Meaux, on the Trilport and Crecy-en-Brie line, the Ger- 
mans under General von Kluck being compelled to give way 
and retire on Meaux, at which point their resistance was 
broken on the 9th. 

General French's army advanced to meet the German 
hosts with forced marches from their temporary base to the 
southeast of Paris. 

The whole British army, except cavalry, passed through 
Lagny, and the incoming troops were so wearied that many 
of them at the first opportunity lay down in the dust and 
slept where they were. 

But a few hours ' rest worked a great change, and a little 
later the British troops were following the German retreat up 
the valley with bulldog tenacity. 

The British artillery did notable work in those days, 
according to the French military surgeons who were stationed 
at Lagny. At points near there the bodies of slain Germans 
who fell before the British gunners still littered the ground 
on September 10, and the grim crop was still heavier on the 
soil farther up the valley, where the fighting was more 
desperate. 

As far as possible the bodies were buried at night, each 
attending to its own fallen. 

MANY SANGUINARY INCIDENTS 

Sanguinary incidents were plentiful in the week of fight- 
ing to the south of the Marne. In an engagement not far 
from Lagny the British captured thirty Germans who had 



202 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

given up their arms and were standing under guard when, 
encouraged by a sudden forward effort of the German front, 
they made a dash for their rifles. They were cut down by a 
volley from their British guards before they could reach their 
weapons. 

"Among dramatic incidents in the fighting," according to 
an English correspondent, "may be mentioned the grim work 
at the ancient fishponds near Ermenonville. These ponds 
are shut in by high trees. Driving the enemy through the 
woods, a Scotch regiment hustled its foes right into the 
fishponds, the Scotchmen jumping in after the Germans up to 
the middle to finish them in the water, which was packed with 
their bodies." This scene is illustrated on another page. 

VAST GRAVEYARD AT MEAUX 

Some idea of how the Germans were harassed by artillery 
fire during their retreat was obtained on a visit to the fields 
near Meaux, the scene of severe fighting. The German in- 
fantry had taken a position in a sunken road, on either side 
of which were stretched in extended lines hummocks, some of 
them natural and some the work of spades in the hands of 
German soldiers. 

The sunken road was littered with bodies. Sprawling in 
ghastly fashion, the faces had almost the same greenish-gray 
hue as the uniforms worn. The road is lined with poplars, 
the branches of which, severed by fragments of shells, were 
strewn among the dead. In places whole tops of trees had 
been torn away by the artillery fire. 

Beside many bodies were forty or fifty empty cartridge 
shells, while fragments of clothing, caps and knapsacks were 
scattered about. Tins destruction was wrought by batteries a 
little more than three miles distant. Straggling clumps of 
wood intervened between the batteries and their mark, but the 
range had been determined by an officer on an elevation a mile 
from the gunners. He telephoned directions for the firing 
and through glasses watched the bursting shells. 

THE BATTLE AT CRECY 

A graphic picture of the fight in Crecy wood was given 
by a correspondent who said : 



BATTLE OF THE MARNE 203 

The French and English in overwhelming numbers had 
poured in from Lagny toward the River Marne to reinforce 
the flanking skirmishers. One of the smaller woods south- 
east of Crecy furnished cover for the enemy for a time, but 
led to their undoing. The Allies' patrols discovered them in 
the night as the Germans were moving about with lanterns. 

Suddenly the invaders found their twinkling glow-worms 
the mark for a foe of whom they had been unaware. Without 
warning a midnight hail storm from Maxims screamed 
through the trees. The next morning scores of lanterns were 
picked up in the wood, with the glasses shattered. A dashing 
cavalry charge by the British finally cleared the tragic wood 
of the Germans. 

BRITISH BLOW UP A BRIDGE 

At Lagny one of the sights of the town was a shattered 
bridge, which was blown up by General French as soon as he 
got his army across it. At that time British infantry and 
artillery had poured through the town and over the bridge 
for several days. General French's idea was to keep raiding 
detachments of German cavalry from incursions into the 
beautiful villas and gardens of the western suburbs. 

Fifteen minutes after the bridge had been reduced to a 
twisted mass of steel and broken masonry a belated order 
came to save it, but the British engineers who had received 
the order to destroy it had done their work well. 

The inhabitants were cleared out of all the neighboring 
houses, which were shaken by the terrific explosion when the 
charge was set off. Every window in the nearby houses was 
shattered. - 

The people of Lagny took the destruction of their beautiful 
bridge in good part. They were too grateful for their deliv- 
erance from the Germans to grumble about the wrecked 
bridge. 

GERMAN LOSSES AT THE MARNE 

There is no doubt that the German losses in the engage- 
ments at the Marne far exceeded those of the Allies and were 
most severe, in both men and material. The Germans made 
incredible efforts to cross the Marne. The French having 
destroyed all the bridges, the Germans tried to construct 



204 BATTLE OF THE MARNE 

three bridges of boats. Sixteen times the bridges were on 
the point of completion, but each time they were reduced to 
matchwood by the French artillery. 

"There is not the slightest doubt," said a reliable corre- 
spondent, "that but for the superb handling of the German 
right by General von Kluck, a large part of Emperor Wil- 
liam's forces would have been captured at the Marne. The 
allied cavalry did wonders, and three or four additional divi- 
sions of cavalry could have contributed towards a complete 
rout of the Germans." 

The general direction of the German retirement was north- 
east, and it was continued for seventy miles, to a line drawn 
between Soissons, Rheims and Verdun. 

A week after the battle the field around Meaux had been 
cleared of dead and wounded, and only little mounds with 
tiny crosses, flowers and tricolored flags recalled the terrible 
struggle. 

The inhabitants of neighboring villages soon returned to 
their homes and resumed their ordinary occupations. 

FALL OF MAUBEUGE 

While the fighting at the Marne was in progress, German 
troops achieved some successes in other parts of the theater 
of war. Thus, the fortified French town of Maubeuge, on the 
Sambre river midway between Namur in Belgium and St. 
Quentin, France, fell to the Germans on September 7. The 
investment began on August 25. More than a thousand shells 
fell in one night near the railway station and the Rue de 
France was partially destroyed. The loss of life, however, 
was comparatively slight. 

At 11 :50 o 'clock on the morning of September 7 a white 
flag was hoisted on the church tower and trumpets sounded 
' ' cease firing, ' ' but the firing only ceased at 3 :08 o 'clock that 
afternoon. In the meantime the greater part of the garrison 
succeeded in evacuating the town. The German forces 
marched in at 7 :08 o 'clock that evening. 



The retreat of the German forces from the Marne ended 
the second stage of the great war. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

Slow Mobilization of Troops — Invasion of German and Aus- 
trian Territory — Cossacks Lead the Van — Early Suc- 
cesses in East Prussia — "On to Berlin" — Heavy 
Losses Inflicted on Austrians — German Troops Rushed 
to the Defense of the Eastern Territory. 

WHEN at 7: 30 o'clock on the evening of August 1, 1914, 
the German Ambassador at St. Petersburg handed the 
declaration of war to the Russian foreign minister, 
the immediate reason was that Russia had refused to stop 
mobilizing her army, as requested by Germany on July 30. 

The general mobilization of the Russian army and fleet 
was proclaimed on July 31 and martial law was proclaimed 
forthwith in Germany. The government of the Kaiser had 
given Russia twenty-four hours in which to reply to its ulti- 
matum of the 30th. Russia paid no attention to the ultimatum, 
but M. Goremykin, president of the Council of the Russian 
Empire, issued a manifesto which read : 

" Russia is determined not to allow Servia to be crushed 
and will fulfill its duty in regard to that small kingdom, which 
has already suffered so much at Austria's hands." 

Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 
6. From that time on the Russian army had two main objec- 
tives — first, the Austrian province of Galicia, and second the 
eastern frontier of Germany, across which lay the territory 
known as East Prussia. And while the early days of the great 
conflict saw a German host pouring into Belgium, animated 
by the battle-cry, * ' On to Paris ! ' ' the gathering legions of the 
Czar headed to the west and crossed the Prussian frontier 
with hoarse, resounding shouts of "On to Berlin!" 

205 



206 THE RUSSIAN CA3IPAIGN 

MOBILIZATION WAS SLOW 

The mobilization of the Russian army was slow compared 
with that of Germany, France and Austria, and some weeks 
elapsed after the declaration of war before Russia was pre- 
pared to attack Germany with the full force of which it was 
capable. The immense distances to be traversed by troops 
proceeding to the frontier and by the reserves to their re- 
spective depots caused delays that were unavoidable but were 
minimized by the eagerness of the Russian soldiery to get to 
the front. In Russia, as in all the other great countries en- 
gaged in the conflict, with the probable exception of Austria, 
the war was popular and a wave of patriotic enthusiasm and 
martial ardor swept over the land, from the Baltic to the 
Black Sea, from St. Petersburg to Siberia. 

In Russia military service is universal and begins at the 
age of 20, continuing for twenty-three years. There are 
three divisions of the Russian army — the European, Cau- 
casian and Asiatic armies. Military service of the Russian 
consists of three years in the first line, fourteen years in the 
reserve (during which time he has to undergo two periods of 
training of six weeks each) and five years in the territorial 
reserve. The Cossacks, however, hold their land by military 
tenure and are liable to serve at any time in the army. They 
provide their own horses and accouterments. The total 
strength of the Russian army is about 5,500,000 men ; the field 
force of the European army consists of 1,000,000 soldiers 
with about the same number in the second line. There were 
besides at the beginning of the war over 5,000,000 men un- 
organized but available for duty. 

AEMY REORGANIZED RECENTLY 

Since the disastrous war with Japan the Russian army 
has been reorganized and it has profited largely by the harsh 
experience of the Manchurian campaign. 

The physique of the Russian infantryman is second to 
none in Europe. The Russian "moujik" (peasant) is from 
childhood accustomed to cover long distances on foot, so that 
marches of from 30 to 40 miles are covered without fatigue 
by even the youngest recruits. They wear long boots, which 
are made of excellent soft leather, so that sore feet were 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 207 

quite the exception even in Manchuria, where very long 
marches were undergone by many of the units. 

Each regiment of infantry contains four battalions com- 
manded by a major or lieutenant-colonel. The battalion con- 
sists of four companies of 120 men, commanded by a captain, 
so that each regiment on a war footing numbers upwards of 
2,000 men. 

The Russian cavalry is divided into two main categories. 
There are the heavy regiments of the Guard, which consist 
mainly of Lancer regiments, and there are also numberless 
Cossack or irregular cavalry regiments, which are recruited 
chiefly from the districts of the River Don and the highlands 
of the Caucasus. 

The horses of the Russian horse and field artillery are 
distinctly poor and very inferior to those of the cavalry. The 
artillery is therefore somewhat slow in coming into action. 
But the horses, while weedy-looking, are very hardy and pull 
the guns up steep gradients. The Russian gunners prefer to 
take up " indirect" rather than "direct" positions. Batteries 
are also rather slow in changing positions and in moving up 
in support of their infantry units. 

THE RUSSIAN COSSACKS 

What the Uhlans are to the German army, the Cossacks 
of the Don and the Caucasus are to the Russians — scouts, 
advance guards and " covering" cavalry. They are good all- 
round fighters, capable of long-continued effort and tireless 
in the saddle; they are also trained to fight in dismounted 
action. 

As a soldier the Cossack is altogether unique; his ways 
are his own and his confidence in his officers and himself is 
perfect. His passionate love of horses makes his work a 
pleasure. The Cossack seat on horseback is on a high pad- 
saddle, with the knee almost vertical and the heel well drawn 
back. Spurs are not worn, and another remarkable thing is 
that he has absolutely no guard to his sword. The Russian 
soldier scorns buttons; he says, "They are a nuisance; they 
have to be cleaned, they wear away the cloth, they are heavy, 
and they attract the attention of the enemy." 

The Cossack pony is a quaint little beast to look at, but 
the finest animal living for his work, and very remarkable 



208 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

for his wonderful powers of endurance. The Cossack and his 
mount have been likened to a clever nurse and a spoilt child — 
each understands and loves the other, but neither is com- 
pletely under control. The Cossack does not want his horse 
to be a slave, and recognizes perfectly that horses, like chil- 
dren, have their whims and humors and must be coaxed and 
reasoned with, but rarely punished. The famous knout (whip) 
is carried by the Cossacks at the end of a strap across the 
left shoulder. Most of the men are bearded and in full dress, 
with the high fur cap stuck jauntily on the head of square 
cut hair, the Cossack presents a picturesque and martial fig- 
ure. The appearance of these men is quite different from 
that of the clean-shaven regular infantryman of the Russian 
army. 



BUSSIAN PLAN OF CAMPAIGN 

While the direct objective of the Russians was Berlin, 
there were many reasons why a bee-line course could not be 
followed. Germany had prepared an elaborate defense sys- 
tem to cover the direct approaches to Berlin, and the fortresses 
of Danzig, Graudenz, Thorn, and Posen were important points 
in this scheme. The nature of the country also adapts itself 
to these defensive works and would make progress slow for 
an attacker. 

Moreover, as Austria and her forces mobilized before Rus- 
sia, a diversion was created by the Austrian invasion of south 
Poland, in which the Germans also took the offensive. Under 
these circumstances the Russian plan of campaign resolved 
itself into three parts : — 

(1) A northern movement from Kovno and Grodno on 
Insterburg and Konigsberg as a counter-attack. 

(2) A central movement from Warsaw towards Posen with 
supporting movements north and south. 

(3) A southern movement on Lublin in Poland to repulse 
the invaders combined with a movement from the east on 
Lemberg in order to turn the Austrian flank. 

The first purpose of Russia was to clear Poland of enemies, 
as they threatened the Russian left flank. At the same time 
Russia took the offensive by an invasion of Prussia in the 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 



209 



north. This latter movement led to a victory at Gumbinnen 
and the investment of Konigsberg. Later came victory at 
Lublin, rolling back the Austrians, and the capture of Lem- 
berg, which signalized the Russian invasion of Austrian ter- 
ritory. Thus Russia was for awhile clear of the enemy, while 
she established a strong footing in both Prussia and Austria. 
We can now understand the main Russian plan a little 
better. In the north the army was to advance from Konigs- 
berg and endeavor to cut off Danzig and break the line of 




PRAGUE 



LEMBERfi 






THE RUSSIAN" PLAN OP CAMPAIGN 
In the above view the German lines of defense are shown black, 
the Austrian lines of defense are indicated by crossed lines, and 
the Russian advances are shown by arrows. 



defenses between that place and Thorn, thus leaving this 
fortress in the rear. In the south the Austrians, already 
heavily punished, would be driven back on the Carpathian 
passes to the south, and westward also toward Cracow, which 
is the key to the situation. If Cracow fell Russia would have 
a good route into Germany, and the move would be supported 
by advances from Warsaw, thus threatening Breslau from 
two sides. 



210 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

GERMAN TROOPS HURRIED EAST 

Early in September, however, the danger of the Russian 
advance into Germany, which apparently had given the Ger- 
man general staff but little concern at first, was fully realized 
and large bodies of German troops were detached from the 
western theater of war and hurried to the eastern frontier. 
Germany had evidently reckoned on Austria being able to 
hold its ground better, and was badly prepared for a flanking 
move on Breslau so early in the campaign. But the Servian 
and Russian defeats of Austria left Germany to bear the full 
force of the terrific Russian onslaught, and her forces proved 
equal to the occasion. Under General von Hindenberg the 
German army of the east soon repelled the Russian invaders 
and forced them to retire from East Prussia across their own 
border, where they were followed by the Germans. A series 
of engagements on Russian soil followed, in which the advan- 
tage lay as a rule with the Germans. The losses on both 
sides were heavy, but the Germans captured many thousands 
of Russian prisoners and considerable quantities of arms and 
munitions of war. The immense resources of the Russian 
empire in men and material made the problem of Russian 
invasion a very serious one for Germany. This was fully 
realized by the Kaiser, who about October 1, at the end of 
the second month of the war, proceeded in person to his 
eastern frontier to direct the defensive operations against 
Russia. 

CZAR NICHOLAS AT THE FRONT 

About the same time the Czar, Nicholas II, also took the 
field in person, arriving at the front on October 5, accom- 
panied by General Soukhomlinoff, the Russian minister of 
war. 

"I am resolved to go to Berlin itself, even if it causes me 
to lose my last moujik (peasant)," the Czar is reported as 
saying in September. The spirit and temper of the Russian 
government may be judged by the fact that before the war 
was many days old the name of the Russian capital was 
officially changed from "St. Petersburg," which was consid- 
ered to have a German flavor, to " Petrograd, ' ' a purely 
Russian or Slavic form of nomenclature. 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

1. Russian Troops Advancing Along- Railway in Eastern Prussia. 

2. French Grenadiers Making a Plank Attack in Open Order. 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

1. German Ambulance Corps Removing Wounded from the Field. 

© International News Service. 

2. The Horrors of War — Scene after Battle of Haelen. 





Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. T. 

1. Bomb-Throwing Device Used on German Aeroplanes — A Release Clutch 

Frees Bomb from Sling and Drops It. 
Photo by Buck from Underwood & Underwood, New York. 

2. Motor Trucks Carrying Water Supply to French Troops at the Front. 




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THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 211 

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212 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

the Russian forces extended from Insterberg to Goldapp, a 
distance of about thirty -two miles. Seventy-five miles further 
on was the first of the two strong German lines of fortifica- 
tions. 

Early victories were claimed by the Russians in their ad- 
vance into Austria, which was made slowly. Austria then 
turned to fight the Russian invasion. It was forced to gather 
all its forces for this principal struggle and hence retired 
from offensive operations against the Servians. Unless she 
could halt the Russians pouring in from the north, a success 
against Servia could do her no good. 

By the first of September the Russian advance into East 
Prussia was well under way and the strong fortress of 
Konigsberg was in danger of a siege. German troops were 
being rushed to its defense. In Galicia there were fierce 
encounters between the Russian invaders and the Austrians. 
Several victories were claimed by the Russians all along the 
line and whole brigades of Austrian troops were reported 
destroyed, while the Russian losses were also admittedly 
heavy. The fiercest fighting occurred in the vicinity of Lem- 
berg, the capital of Galicia, which was soon to fall to General 
Russky. The Austrian attack on Russian Poland failed and 
the Austrians were driven back across their own frontier. 
The Russians were seeking to destroy the hope of the Kaiser 
for help from Austria in Eastern Germany, where the Rus- 
sian advance, ridiculed or belittled by Germany before it be- 
gan, became more menacing every day. The German war 
plans had contemplated a quick, decisive blow in France and 
then a rapid turn to the East to meet the Russians with a 
tremendous force. But the belligerency of the Belgians and 
the cooperation of the British balked these plans, while the 
Russians moved faster than was expected by their foe. Aus- 
tria had failed everywhere to stop the Czar's forces, and then 
came a crushing blow to Austrian hopes in a ruinous defeat 
near Lemberg and the loss of that fortress. 

THE FALL OF LEMBERG 

The capture of Lemberg from the Austrians early in 
September after a four days' battle was one of the striking 
Russian successes of the war. Details reached the outer 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 218 

world on September 10th from Petrograd (St. Petersburg) 
as follows, the story being that of an eyewitness : 

"The commencement of the fighting which resulted in 
the capture of Lemberg began August 29th, when the Rus- 
sians drove the enemy from Zisczow (forty-five miles east 
of Lemberg) and moved on to Golaya Gorka — a name which 
means 'the naked hill.' 

' * We spent the night on Naked Hill, and the actual storm- 
ing of the town was begun at 2:30 o'clock in the morning. 
Then followed a four days' battle, A virtually continuous 
cannonade continued from dawn to darkness without ces- 
sation. 

"Even in the darkness the weary fighters got little sleep. 
Whenever a single shot was heard the men dashed for their 
places and the battle boiled again with renewed fury. 

"The enemy's counter attacks were delivered with great 
energy and a dense hail of lead and iron was poured over 
our ranks. The Russian advance was greatly impeded by 
the hilly nature of the ground and the great number of 
extinct craters, which formed splendid natural fortifications 
for the enemy, which held them doggedly. Out of these, 
however, the enemy was driven in succession. 

"We suffered much from thirst, for the stony country 
was devoid of springs. The days were oppressively hot 
and the nights bitterly cold. 

RUSSIAN ARTILLERY SUPERIOR 

"Both sides fought with great obstinacy, but the nearer 
we approached Lemberg the harder the struggle became. 
However, it soon was evident that we were superior in artil- 
lery. 

"At length the enemy was driven from all sides beneath 
the protection of the Lemberg forts. Our troops were very 
weary, but in high spirits. 

"For two days the fight raged around the forts, but we 
were always confident of the prowess of our artillery. The 
big guns of both sides rained a terrific hail down on the 
armies, which suffered terrific losses. 

"At last we noticed that the resistance of the forts was 



214 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

growing weaker. A charge at double quick was ordered, and 
we carried the first line of works. 

"It was evident from that point that many of the enemy's 
guns had been destroyed. Not enough of them had been left 
to continue an effective defense, but the enemy was undis- 
couraged and tried to make up with rifle fire what it lacked 
in artillery. 

LOSSES BECOME HEAVIER 

"Between the first and second lines our losses were heavier 
than before, but under bayonet charges the enemy broke and 
fled in panic. 

"Our troops entered the town at the enemy's heels. "We 
ran into the town, despite our fatigue, with thunderous cheer- 
ing. 

"An episode which had much to do with ending the 
enemy's dogged resistance occurred during the fighting be- 
tween the first and second lines. The Austrians in the hope 
of checking the Russian effort to encircle the town had thrown 
out a heavy screen of Slav troops with a backing of Magyars 
who had been ordered to shoot down the Slavs from behind 
if they showed any hesitation. 

"This circumstance became known to the Russian com- 
mander, who ordered a terrific artillery fire over the heads 
of the Slavs and into the ranks of the Magyars. This well- 
directed fire set the whole line in panic." 

More than 35,000 Austrians and Russian wounded were 
abandoned on the field of battle between Tarnow, Lemberg 
and Tarnopol owing to lack of means of transportation, ac- 
cording to reliable reports. Both armies declined to ask for 
an armistice for the burial of the dead and the collection of 
the wounded, each fearing to give an advantage to the other. 

THE BATTLE BEFORE LEMBERG 

The immense superiority of the Austrian forces east of 
Lemberg enabled the Austrians at first to adopt the offensive. 
As soon, however, as the Austrians realized the impossibility 
of an advance on Warsaw they concentrated their large and 
overwhelming forces in an attempt to outflank the right wing 
of the Russian army, which was drawing slowly but surely 
towards Lemberg. On the other Russian flank the two Rus- 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 



215 



sian army corps, after crossing the River Zlota Lipa without 
much opposition, continued their advance to the River Knila 
Lipa, where they found the bridges had all been destroyed by 
the Austrian advance guards. Two bridges were constructed 
on the Rogarten-Halicz line, which enabled a crossing to be 
effected in spite of heavy and incessant artillery fire from the 
Austrian 24-centimeter guns. 

Once across the river, the two Russian corps crossed the 
upper reaches of the River Boog and so approached the town 
of Lemberg from the east. The main Austrian army, how- 




WHERE KUS9IA FIGHTS, 

Battle grounds of Eastern Prussia and of Galicia, where the Austrians were repeatedly- 
defeated with heavy losses. 



216 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

ever, had by this time moved up to bar the further advance 
of the Russian forces, and the whole of their armies on the 
left bank of the Eiver Vistula being in front of the three Rus- 
sian corps, the latter were compelled to adopt a defensive 
role for three or four days, after which, having received large 
reinforcements, the Russian force moved forward and drove 
the Austrian troops out of their entrenchments outside Lem- 
berg at the point of the bayonet. A desperate attempt was 
made by means of a counter-attack to arrest the advance of 
the Russian troops, but this only resulted in the capture of 
6,000 Austrian prisoners. 

Lemberg was not a fortress but was recently converted 
into a semi-fortified place, as a series of lunettes, redoubts, 
etc., had been hastily prepared. It was the headquarters of 
the 11th Austrian Corps, which consisted of the famous 43rd 
Landwehr infantry division, and was further divided into 
three Landwehr brigades. There was also a Landwehr Uhlan 
regiment, together with a howitzer division of field artillery. 
These batteries were armed with 10.5-centimeter guns, fitted 
with the German or Krupp eccentric breech action. The forts 
outside the town were said to be armed with the 15-centimeter 
siege gun made of steel, also with a Krupp action. The 
ammunition for these guns is chiefly high explosive shell and 
shrapnel; one of the forts is also said to have had a battery 
of three 24-centimeter heavy siege guns of quite a modern 
pattern. 

GERMANY RUSHES REINFORCEMENTS 

When Lemberg fell the Russian advance covered a line 
extending from far up in Eastern Prussia, near Tilsit, across 
the frontier and on down south into Austrian Galicia. Konigs- 
berg was hearing the sound of the Russian guns and its be- 
siegers seemed on the verge of victory. A central column of 
mighty strength was pushing its way into Germany, despite 
a stubborn resistance. Then the tide turned. German rein- 
forcements were brought up and under General von Hinden- 
berg the Germans administered a severe defeat to General 
Rennenkampf 's army near Allenstein, in which it was claimed 
that 60,000 prisoners were taken. Other reverses were suf- 
fered by the Russians and soon after the middle of September 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 217 

they had been forced to retire from German territory, the 
German troops following them into Russia, where a series of 
minor engagements occurred near the frontier. 



GENERAL. RENNENKAMPF 's DEFEAT 

The operations leading to the defeat of General Rennen- 
kampf's Russian army by the Germans were as follows: 

From September 7 to 13 the Russians took a strong posi- 
tion on the line from Angerburg to Gerdauen, Allenburg, and 
Kehlau, the left wing resting on the Mazurian lakes and the 
right wing protected in the rear and flank by the forest of 
Frisching, whose pathless woods and swamps furnished an 
almost impregnable position. The Russians devoted great 
efforts to intrenching their position and brought up besides 
their heavy artillery. Russian cavalry scouted far to the west 
and south, but otherwise the army undertook no offensive 
operations in the days following a battle at Tannenberg. 

The German forces, according to the German official ac- 
count, were composed of the Second, Third, Fourth and 
Twentieth corps, two reserve divisions and five cavalry divi- 
sions. 

General von Hindenburg, the German commander, mean- 
while was assembling every available man, depriving the 
fortresses of their garrisons and calling in all but a bare 
remnant of the force protecting the southern frontier in the 
vicinity of Soldau, adding them to reinforcements received 
from the west. 

General von Hindenburg again resorted to the customary 
German flanking movement, and since the German right, pro- 
tected by the forest and marshes, seemed too strong, he 
adopted the daring strategy of sending the flanking force to 
the lake region to the south, the same character of movement 
by which the Russian Narew army had been defeated on 
August 28, in the vicinity of Ortelsburg, and which in case of 
failure might have been equally as disastrous for the Germans. 

STRATEGY IS SUCCESSFUL 

The strategy, however, succeeded, although General Ren- 
nenkampf offered a desperate resistance to the frontal at- 
tacks. After three days' fighting the Russians were forced 



218 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

back slightly in the center. "When the flank movement of the 
Germans was discovered already threatening the flank, a 
counter-movement was launched with a new army collected at 
Lyck, including the Twenty-second corps and parts of the 
Third Siberian corps, just arriving from Irkutsk', and the 
balance of the defeated army. The counter-attacks failed 
and on September 10 the Russians began to fall back on their 
main position, retreating in good order and well covered. 

The Russian artillery on the right wing appears to have 
made a good retreat owing to a timely start, while the left 
wing was hard pressed by the enveloping German infantry. 
From this wing the Russians retreated across the border in 
two columns, while the main body went northward and the 
others in an easterly direction, pursued by the Germans, who 
advanced far from the border. 

The German government appointed Count von Merveldt 
as governor of the Russian province of Suwalki and other 
points occupied by them. 

The University of Koenigsberg on September 18 conferred 
upon General von Hindenburg honorary doctors ' degrees from 
all four of the departments of philosophy, theology, law and 
medicine, in recognition of his success against the Russian 
invader. 

AUSTRIA STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE 

In Galicia, however, Russian successes continued. The 
important fortress of Mikolajoff, 25 miles south of Lemberg, 
was captured and this cleared away every Austrian strong- 
hold east of Przemysl, which was then invested by the Rus- 
sians. 

Austria was now struggling for her very existence as a 
monarchy. Following the crushing defeats administered to 
the Austrian troops and with the Czar's forces sweeping 
Galicia, Vienna was hurriedly fortified. All reports indicated 
that the large Austrian force, nearly 1,000,000 men in all, op- 
posing the main Russian invasion had proved ineffective. Help 
from Germany did not arrive in time. Official dispatches re- 
ported the main Austrian army retreating, pursued and 
harassed by the Russians. The other important Austrian 
army was surrounded near Lublin. 

"While the Muscovite host went smashing through Galicia, 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 219 

chasing the Austrian army before it, the Russian staff be- 
littled the retreat from East Prussia, saying that the Russian 
army was merely falling back on a new defensive position. 
The German artillery had been getting in its deadly work and 
the pressure on Koenigsberg was soon to be relieved. 

There were many reports at this time of a popular demand 
in Austria that an end be made to the struggle. Peace talk 
was a marked feature of the sixth week of the war, but there 
were no definite results in any part of the immense theater 
of war. 

^ The third week of September found the Germans, greatly 
reinforced^ making a strong resistance to Russian progress, 
with the aid of the heavy German artillery. The shattered 
Austrian armies, under Generals von Auffenberg and Dankl, 
were making desperate endeavors to concentrate in the vicinity 
o.f Rawaruska, but were apparently surrounded by the Rus- 
sians, who continued to capture Austrian prisoners by the 
thousand. Fears were entertained for Cracow, one of the 
strongest fortresses in Austria, if not in Europe, which seemed 
likely soon to fall into the hands of Russia. 

It was stated in Rome, and said to be admitted in Vienna, 
that the Archduke Frederick, commanding the Austrian forces 
in Galicia, had lost 120,000 men, or one-fourth of his entire 
army. German troops were reported marching south toward 
Poland to assist the Austrians. 

The Russian successes in Galicia gave them command of 
the Galician oil-fields, upon which Germany largely depended 
for her supply of gasoline, which is a prime necessary in 
modern war. 

BUSSIANS AT PKZEMYSL 

On September 21 the Russians began the bombardment of 
Przemysl, having previously occupied Grodek and Mosciska, 
west of Lemberg. The shattered second Austrian army was 
evidently incapable of staying the Russian advance, and took 
refuge in Przemysl. A part of this Galician stronghold was 
soon captured by the Russians, forcing the Austrians to take 
refuge in the eastern forts, where the entire garrison was 
concentrated at the end of September, preparing to make a 
final resistance. The situation of the garrison was critical, 



220 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

as it was entirely surrounded by the enemy. On September 
21 also the Eussian troops took by storm the fortifications of 
Jaroslav, on the river San, and captured many guns. 

The German offensive from East Prussia was apparently 
halted October 1 by the almost impassable condition of the 
Russian roads in the north. Germany was said to have at 
this time thirty army corps of the line and the first reserve 
prepared to operate against Russia and to resist the Russian 
advance upon Cracow. 

The German main defenses against Russia extended in a 
general line from Koenigsberg to Danzig, thence south along 
the Vistula to the great fortress of Thorn. From there the 
fortified line swung to the southwest to Posen, thence south to 
Breslau, the main fortress along the Oder, and from there 
to Cracow. 

Early in October the Russian invasion of Hungary began. 
The Russian armies continued to sweep through Galicia and 
that province was reported clear of Austrian troops. The 
German successes claimed against the Czar farther north 
included victories at Krasnik and Zamoso, in Russian Poland ; 
Insterburg and Tannenburg, in East Prussia. 

ESTIMATE OF AUSTRIAN LOSSES 

A Russian estimate places the Austrian losses in Galicia 
at 300,000 in killed, wounded and prisoners, or nearly one- 
third of their total forces. They also lost, it was claimed at 
Petrograd, 1,000 guns, more than two-thirds of their available 
artillery. 

The Russian newspaper correspondents described horrible 
scenes on the battlefields abandoned by the Austro-German 
forces in Galicia. 

" Streams," said one eyewitness, "were choked full with 
slain men, trodden down in the headlong flight till the waters 
were dammed and overflowing the banks. Piles of dead are 
awaiting burial or burning. Hundreds of acres are sown with 
bodies and littered with weapons and battle debris, while 
wounded and riderless horses are careering madly over the 
abandoned country. The trophies captured comprise much 
German equipment. An ammunition train captured at Janow 
(eleven miles northwest of Lemberg) was German, while the 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 221 

guns taken included thirty-six of heavy caliber bearing Em- 
peror William's initials and belonging to the German Sixth 
army corps. 

"The hue of retreat of the Austro-German forces was 
blocked with debris of every kind — valuable military supplies, 
telephone and telegraph installations, light railway and other 
stores, bridging material — in fact, everything needed by a 
modern army was flung away in flight. Over 1,000 wagons 
with commissariat supplies alone were captured." 

Forty-five thousand Austro-German prisoners were re- 
ported to have arrived at Lublin. Russian correspondents 
with the armies in Galicia asserted that German troops were 
interspersed with Austrian troops in the intrenchments in 
order to raise the morale of the Austrians. One correspondent 
declared that while the Austrians often took flight the Ger- 
mans were ready, to the last man, to perish. 



ON THE FIRING LINE IN RUSSIAN POLAND VIVID DESCRIPTION BY 

AN AMERICAN EYEWITNESS 

The first American permitted to witness actual battles near 
the eastern frontier of Germany was Karl H. von Wiegand, 
who wrote as follows from the firing line near East Wirballen, 
Russian Poland, October 9 : 

1 ' The German artillery today beat back, in a bloody, ghastly 
smear of men, the Russian advance. 

1 ' Yesterday I saw an infantry engagement. Today it was 
mostly an artillery encounter. The infantry attack is the 
more ghastly, but the artillery the more awe-inspiring. This 
was the fifth day of constant fighting and still the German 
trenches hold. 

"Today's battle opened at dawn. With two staff officers 
assigned as my chaperons, I had been attached overnight to 
the field headquarters. I slept well, exhausted by the excite- 
ment of my first sight of modern war, but when dawn once 
again revealed the two long lines of the Russian and German 
positions the Russian guns began to hurl their loads of 
shrapnel at the German trenches. 

"We had breakfast calmly enough despite the din of guns. 
Then we went to one of the German batteries on the left center. 
They were already in action, though it was only 6 o 'clock. The 



222 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

men got the range from observers a little in advance, cun- 
ningly masked, and slowly, methodically, and enthusiastically 
fed the guns with their loads of death. 

''The Russians didn't have our range. All of their shells 
flew screaming 1,000 yards to our left. Through my glasses I 
watched them strike. The effect on the hillock was exactly as 
though a geyser had suddenly spurted up. A vast cloud of dirt 
and stones and grass spouted up, and when the debris cleared 
away a great hole showed. 

RUSSIANS TRY NEW RANGE 

"While we watched the Russians seemed to tire of shoot- 
ing holes in an inoffensive hill. They began to try chance 
shots to the right and to the left. It wasn't many minutes 
before I realized that, standing near a battery, the execution 
of which must have been noted on the Russian side, I had a 
fine chance of experiencing shrapnel bursting overhead. It 
was a queer sensation to peer through field glasses and see 
the Russian shells veer a few hundred feet to the right. I saw 
one strike a windmill, shattering the long arms and crumpling 
it over in a slow burning heap. Then we beat a retreat, further 
toward the center. 

"We had been standing behind a slight declivity. I hadn't 
caught a glimpse of the enemy. Shells were the only things 
that apprised us of the Russian nearness. But as we passed 
out on an open field, considerably out of range of the field 
guns, I could see occasional flashes that bespoke field pieces, 
a mile or so away. 

RUSSIAN INFANTRY CHARGES 

"Back behind us, on the extreme left, I was told the Rus- 
sians were attacking the German trenches by an infantry 
charge, the German field telephone service having apprised the 
commanders along the front. With glasses we could see a faint 
line of what must have been the Russian infantry rushing 
across the open fields. 

"We passed on to the center, going slightly to the rear for 
horses. As we arrived at the right wing we witnessed the last 
of a Russian infantry advance at that end. The wave of Rus- 
sians had swept nearly to the German trenches, situated 
between two sections of field artillery, and there had been 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 223 

repulsed. Russians were smeared across in front of these 
pits, dead, dying, or wounded — cut down by the terrible spray 
of German machine guns. 

"I got up to the trenches as the German fire slackened 
because of the lack of targets. The Russians had gone back. 
Strewn in the trenches were countless empty shells, the bullets 
of which had, as it looked to inexpert eyes, slain thousands. 
As a matter of fact, there were hundreds of dead in the field 
ahead. 

GUN" BARRELS SIZZLING HOT 

''German infantrymen spat on their rapid firers as we 
reached the trench and delightedly called our attention to the 
sizzle that told how hot the barrels were from the firing. 

"The men stretched their cramped limbs, helped a few 
wounded to the rear, and waited for breakfast. It was not 
long forthcoming. Small lines of men struggling along under 
steaming buckets came hurrying up to the accompaniment of 
cheers and shouts. They bore soup that the men in the 
trenches gulped down ravenously. Meanwhile men with the 
white brassard and the red Geneva cross were busy out in the 
open, lending succor to the Russian wounded. The battle 
seemed to have come to a sudden halt. 

"But even as I was getting soup, the artillery fusillade 
broke forth again. From 9 o 'clock to noon the Russians hurled 
their heavy shells at the German trenches and the German 
guns. The German batteries replied slowly. 

1 1 There was mighty little fuss and feathers about this busi- 
ness of dealing death from guns. The crews at each piece 
laughed among themselves, but there were none of the pic- 
turesque shouts of command, the indiscriminate blowing of 
bugles, and the flashy waving of battle flags that the word 
battle usually conjures up. It was merely a deadly business of 
killing. 

"Over to the right, a scant 300 yards away, the Russians 
had apparently succeeded in getting the range. As I watched 
through the glasses I saw shrapnel burst over the battery 
there and watched a noncommissioned soldier fall with three 
of his comrades. I was told that one had been killed and three 
wounded. The Red Cross crew came up and bore away the 



224 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

four — the dead and the live — and before they were gone the 
gun was speaking away with four fresh men working it. 

"But the shrapnel kept bursting away over it and soon an 
orderly came riding furiously back on his horse, saluted the 
officers with me, and shouted as he hurried back to the artillery 
reserve : ' Six inch shells to the front ; more ammunition. ' 

"I went back to see the wounded, but the surgeon wouldn't 
let me. I expressed to him my wonder at the few wounded. 
I had seen only a few in the trenches, and no German dead 
until I saw the artilleryman killed. He explained that the 
losses on the German side were light because the trenches were 
well constructed and because there had been no hand-to-hand, 
bayonet to bayonet fighting. 

ATTACKS BY RUSSIAN INFANTRY 

" Yesterday, my first day at Wirballen, I saw the third 
attempt of the Russians to carry the German center by storm. 
Twice on Wednesday their infantry had advanced under cover 
of their artillery, only to be repulsed. Their third effort 
proved no more successful. 

"The preliminaries were well under way, without my 
appreciating their significance, until one of my officer escorts 
explained. 

"At a number of points along their line, observable to us, 
but screened from the observation of the German trenches in 
the center, the Russian infantry came tumbling out, and, rush- 
ing forward, took up advanced positions, awaiting the forma- 
tion of the new and irregular battle line. Dozens of light 
rapid-firers were dragged along by hand. Other troops — the 
reserves — took up semi-advanced positions. All the while the 
Russian shrapnel was raining over the German trenches. 

"Finally came the Russian order to advance. At the word 
hundreds of yards of the Russian fighting line leaped forward, 
deployed in open order, and came on. Some of them came into 
range of the German trench fire almost at once. These lines 
began to wilt and thin out. 

MEN PAUSE ONLY TO FIRE 

"But on they came, all along the line, protected and unpro- 
tected alike, rushing forward with a yell, pausing, firing, and 
advancing again. 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 225 

"From the outset of the advance the German artillery, 
ignoring for the moment the Russian artillery action, began 
shelling the onrushing mass with wonderfully timed shrapnel, 
which burst low over the advancing lines and tore sickening 
gaps. 

"But the Russian line never stopped. For the third time 
in two days they came tearing on, with no indication of having 
been affected by the terrible consequences of the two previous 
charges. As a spectacle the whole thing was maddening. 

"On came the Slav swarm, into the range of the German 
trenches, with wild yells and never a waver. Russian battle 
flags — the first I had seen — appeared in the front of the charg- 
ing ranks. The advance line thinned and the second line 
moved up. 

"Nearer and nearer they swept toward the German posi- 
tions. And then came a new sight. A few seconds later came 
a new sound. First I saw a sudden, almost grotesque melting 
of the advancing line. It was different from anything that 
had taken place before. The men literally went down like 
dominoes in a row. Those who kept their feet were hurled 
back as though by a terrible gust of wind. Almost in the 
second that I pondered, puzzled, the staccato rattle of machine 
guns reached us. My ear answered the query of my eye. 

MACHINE GUN FIKE TELLS 

"For the first time the advancing line hesitated, apparently 
bewildered. Mounted officers dashed along the line, urging the 
men forward. Horses fell with the men. I saw a dozen rider- 
less horses dashing madly through the lines, adding a new 
terror. Another horse was obviously running away with his 
officer rider. The crucial period for the section of the charge 
on which I had riveted my attention probably lasted less than 
a minute. To my throbbing brain it seemed an hour. Then, 
with the withering fire raking them even as they faltered, the 
lines broke. Panic ensued. It was every man for himself. 
The entire Russian charge turned and went tearing back to 
cover and the shelter of the Russian trenches. 

"I swept the entire line of the Russian advance with my 
glasses — as far as it was visible from our position. The whole 



226 THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

advance of the enemy was in retreat, making for its intrenched 
position. 

DEAD MEN COVER ACRES 

"After the assault had failed and the battle had resumed 
its normal trend I swept the field with my glasses. The dead 
were everywhere. They were not piled up, but were strewn 
over acres. More horrible than the sight of the dead, though, 
were the other pictures brought up by the glasses. Squirming, 
tossing, writhing figures everywhere ! The wounded ! All who 
could stumble or crawl were working their way back toward 
their own lines or back to the friendly cover of hills or wooded 
spots. 

"After the charge we moved along back of the German 
lines at a safe distance and found the hospital corps bringing 
back the German wounded. 

1 ' The artillerymen had resumed their duel and as we came 
up in the lee of the outbuildings of a deserted farmhouse a 
shell struck and fired the farmhouse immediately in front of us. 
As we paused to see if the shot was a chance one, or if the Rus- 
sian gunners had actually gotten the range, a regiment of 
fresh reserves, young men who had just come up from the west, 
passed us on their way to get their baptism of fire. 

' ' Their demeanor was more suggestive of a group of college 
students going to a football game than the serious business 
on which they were bent. They were singing and laughing, 
and as they went by a noncommissioned officer inquired rather 
ruefully whether there were any Russians left for them. 

' ' Throughout the day we watched the fight waged from the 
opposing trenches and by the artillery. 

1 l Suddenly at sundown the fighting ceased as if by mutual 
agreement. As I write this I can see occasional flashes of light 
like the flare of giant fireflies out over the scene of the Russian 
charge — the flashes of small electrical lamps in the hands of 
the Russian hospital corps. 

"I'm glad I don't have to look at what the flashes reveal 
out there in the night.' ' 







a O 




+J to 



p s 

j bo 



ss « 




© International News Service. 

1. Belgian Peasants, Made Homeless by War, Fleeing- from the Germans 

at Tirlemont. 

2. Refugees from Malines Using- a Typical Belgian Dogcart in Their 

Flight. 




Photo by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

Women Bear War's Greatest Burdens — Both French and German Women 

and Children were Compelled to Reap the Harvests of 

Grain as well as Sorrow 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 



227 




The Mother. 



—Cleveland Plain Dealer. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 

Declaration of War by Austria — Bombardment of Belgrade — 
Servian Capital Removed — Seasoned Soldiers of Servia 
Give a Good Account of Themselves — Many Indecisive 
Engagements — Servians in Austrian Territory. 

FORMAL declaration of war against Servia was proclaimed 
by Austria on Tuesday, July 28. The text of the official 

announcement was as follows : 

"The Royal Government of Servia not having given a sat- 
isfactory reply to the note presented to it by the Austro-Hun- 
garian Ministry in Belgrade on July 23, 1914, the Imperial and 
Royal Government of Austria-Hungary finds it necessary 
itself to safeguard its rights and interests and to have re- 
course for this purpose to the force of arms. Austria-Hun- 
gary, therefore, considers itself from this moment in a state 
of war with Servia." 

This declaration was signed by Count Berchtold, the Aus- 
trian minister for foreign affairs. 

The events that immediately preceded the declaration of 
war, as summarized in a previous chapter, were as follows : 

On June 28 a Slav student who thought he was a patriot 
killed the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian 
throne, at Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia, which had been 
lately made a province of Austria. An inquiry was begun 
in which evidence was introduced to show that the assassin's 
work was part of a plot for the revolt of the Southern Slav 
provinces of Austria, and that it was instigated by Servians, 
if not by the Servian Government. On July 23, however, be- 
fore the investigation was completed, Austria sent an ulti- 
matum to Servia demanding that it use every means in its 

228 



THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 229 

power to punish the assassins and also to stop all further 
anti-Austrian propaganda. Austria demanded that she be 
permitted to have representatives in the work of investigation 
in Servia. 

The next day, July 24, Russia joined the little Slav country 
in asking for a delay. Austria refused to grant this. 

On July 25, ten minutes before 6 p. m., the hour at which 
the ultimatum expired, the Servian premier, M. Pashitch, gave 
his reply to the Austrian ambassador at Belgrade. Servia 
agreed to all the conditions and apologies demanded by Aus- 
tria, except the requirement that Austrian officials should be 
allowed to participate in the inquiry to be conducted in Servia 
into the assassination of the Archduke. Even this was not 
definitely refused. 

On July 27 the Austrian foreign office issued a statement in 
which appeared these words : 

"The object of the Servian note is to create the false im- 
pression that the Servian Government is prepared in great 
measure to comply with our demands. 

"Asa matter of fact, however, Servia 's note is filled with 
the spirit of dishonesty, which clearly lets it be seen that the 
Servian Government is not seriously determined to put an end 
to the culpable tolerance it hitherto has extended to intrigues 
against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy." 

Eussia at once notified Austria that it could not permit 
Servian territory to be invaded. It was then realized in 
Europe that the great Slav nation would support its little 
brother. Germany let it be known that no other country must 
interfere with the Austro-Servian embroglio, which meant 
that Germany was prepared to back Austria. 

An eleventh-hour proposal by the British foreign secretary, 
Sir Edward Grey, that mediation between Servia and Austria 
be undertaken by a conference of the Ambassadors in London, 
was accepted by France and Italy, but declined by Germany 
and Austria. Then next day, July 28, came Austria's declara- 
tion of war, which soon made Europe the theater of the 
bloodiest struggle of all the ages. 

SEKVIA AND ITS ASPIRATIONS 

Servia 's reply to the declaration of war was to concentrate 



230 THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 

a strong division of its forces in the Sanjak of Novi-Bazar, 
from which they would be in a position to threaten Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, the two Balkan provinces that Austria had lately 
annexed. It was also reported that Servia intended to invade 
Bosnia with the object of enlisting further support from the 
Bosnian Serbs, who were said to be on the point of rising 
against Austria-Hungary. 

The country of the Servians being well suited for defense, 
they were never completely overrun by the Turks, as other 
Balkan states were, and as a consequence they still retain, like 
the Greeks, a native aristocracy of culture. Physically, they 
are fairer than most of the Balkan Slavs and more refined in 
appearance. By temperament they are light-hearted, joyous, 
frivolous, and charming to deal with. 

In Servia itself, including territory acquired in recent wars, 
there are about 4,500,000 Serbs. In Austria there are about 
3,500,000 Serbs, including Croats who belong to the Servian 
race. 

The Servians have long dreamed and talked and written of 
a greater Servia, that should take in all the Servian race. 
They look back to the time of King Stephen Dushan, in the 
fourteenth century, when Servia was supreme in the Balkans 
and was nearly as advanced in civilization as the most ad- 
vanced nations of Europe. The re-establishment of this an- 
cient kingdom had become a passion with the Serbs — not only 
with those in Servia, but with many in Hungary as well. 
Hence, their animus against Austria and Austrian rule, while 
Austria's fight was, primarily, for the preservation and solidi- 
fication of her heterogeneous dominions ; secondarily, for re- 
venge for the Archduke 's death. Incidentally, it may be men- 
tioned that the Archduke Francis Ferdinand was a close 
personal friend of the German Kaiser. 

THE SERVIAN ARMY 

The Servian forces under General Eadumil Putnik, consist 
of ten divisions, divided into four army corps, with a peace 
footing of 160,000 and a war_ strength of over 380,000. Most 
of the men called to arms against Austria were veterans of the 
two recent Balkan wars, and hence probably the most seasoned 
troops in Europe. 



THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 231 

The rifle of the Servian army is the Mauser, model of 1899, 
with a caliber of 7 millimeters, but it is doubtful if Servia 
possessed enough of them to arm the reserves. The Servian 
field piece is a quick-firing gun of the French Schneider-Canet 
system. The army has some 350 modern guns. 

At the outbreak of the war Servia had ten of the most 
modern aircraft, but she had not developed their efficiency to 
a degree at which they would be of much material benefit to 
her in the struggle. 

The extremely mountainous nature of Servia and of the 
adjacent territory of Bosnia make military movements some- 
what slow and difficult, especially for troops unaccustomed to 
mountain warfare. Compared with this mountainous region, 
the district of Agram, where one Austrian army corps had its 
headquarters, is easy country to operate in, while the plain of 
Hungary on the opposite side of the Danube made the task of 
concentrating troops an easy one for the Austrians. 

Another Austrian army corps had its base at Serajevo in 
Bosnia. A railway to the northest from this Bosnian capital 
touches the Servian border at Mokragora. To the north of 
this point lies Kragujevac, the new capital of Servia, to which 
King Peter, his court and the Government repaired from 
Belgrade just before the declaration of war. Southeast of the 
new capital is the important Servian city of Nish. 

The western frontier of Servia follows the windings of the 
River Drina, a tributary of the Danube. The Danube itself 
forms part of the northern boundary and the former capital, 
Belgrade, is picturesquely situated on the south bank of the 
Danube at its junction with a tributary. Two Austrian fort- 
resses command the city from across the Danube. On the plain 
of Hungary to the north is Temesvar, an important point at 
which another Austrian army corps was located. 

CHANCES AGAINST SERVIA 

At the outset the chances of war were heavily against 
Servia. Such artificial defenses as she possessed were on the 
Bulgarian frontier. Many of her troops were engaged in 
endeavoring to establish Servian rule — by no gentle methods, 
it is said — in her new Albanian possessions. Austria was 
prepared to bring against her immediately the three army 



232 THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 

corps from Temesvar, Serajevo and Agram, and four more 
corps, from Hermanstadt, Budapest, Graz, and Kaschau, 
within a fortnight. Servians one hope appeared to be the 
difficulty of the country, otherwise she could not oppose for 
a moment the advance of 250,000 troops supported by 800 
pieces of artillery. Then, too, Austria had warships on the 
Danube and it was partly through this fact that it was decided 
by the Servian Government to evacuate Belgrade and to retire 
to Kragujevac, sixty miles southeast. 

In spite, however, of the seeming futility of opposition, 
Servia, encouraged by Eussian support, prepared for a strenu- 
ous campaign against the Austrian forces, and the first two 
months of the war ended without any decisive advantage to 
Austria. The Servians, on the other hand, claimed numerous 
successes. Their task was lightened by the Eussian invasion 
of Austrian territory and the determined advance of the Czar's 
host, which demanded the fullest strength of the Austrian 
forces to resist. As the Eussians hammered their enemy in 
Galicia the spirits of the Servians rose and their seasoned 
soldiers gave a good account of themselves in every encounter 
with Austrian troops. They crossed the Drina and carried 
the war into Bosnia, putting up a stiff fight wherever they 
encountered the enemy, and while they sustained severe losses 
in killed and wounded during August and September, the 
losses they inflicted upon the Austrians were still heavier. 

ATJSTRIANS BOMBAED BELGRADE 

The Austrian troops on the banks of the Danube became 
active soon after war was declared. In the first few days they 
seized two Servian steamers and a number of river boats. 
Belgrade was bombarded from across the river and many of 
its public buildings, churches and private residences suffered 
damage. 

The hostile armies came into contact for the first time on 
the Eiver Drina, between Bosnia and Servia, and Vienna was 
compelled to admit defeat in this preliminary engagement of 
the war. The Servians forced a passage through the Austrian 
ranks, but only at the cost of many killed and wounded. 

When Crown Prince Alexander of Servia began the in- 
vasion of Bosnia in earnest, in the middle of August, Austria 



THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 233 

found herself at a disadvantage because of the necessity of 
massing most of her forces against the Russians. Roumania 
and Montenegro were then preparing to join the Servians in 
the field against Austria. 

Later in August the Servians captured several of the 
enemy 's strongholds in Bosnia. After a four-day battle on the 
banks of the Drina the Austrians were defeated with heavy 
loss, a large number of guns and prisoners being captured by 
the Servians. The Montenegrin troops repulsed an Austrian 
invading force and took several hundred prisoners in an all- 
day battle on the frontier. 

Early in September a heavy engagement was fought by the 
Servian and Austrian armies near Jadar, resulting in Servian 
victory. It was claimed that the Austrians left 10,000 dead on 
the field of battle. The Servians also successfully defended 
Belgrade, which had been bombarded on several occasions. 
Fifteen or twenty miles west of Belgrade on the Save River, 
an Austrian force was decisively defeated by the Servians, 
who then seemed to be duplicating the successes of the Russian 
army against Austria. 

The attitude of Turkey was being closely watched at this 
time, Greece and Bulgaria being prepared to enter the war 
against the Ottoman Empire if the latter decided on bellig- 
erency, but on September 5 Turkey again declared her in- 
tention to remain neutral. 

SERVIANS CAPTURE SEMLIN" 

Crossing the Save River into Hungary, the Servians scored 
a brilliant stroke in the capture of Semlin, an important Aus- 
trian city. They also reported continued successes in Bosnia. 
Reports of wholesale desertions of Slavs from the Austrian 
army were received daily and probably had considerable 
foundation in fact. It was said that the Servians were being 
received enthusiastically by the people of Hungary. 

These Servian triumphs led to the reorganization of the 
Balkan League, including Servia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and 
Greece. 

On September 20 the Servian Government announced that 
an Austrian attacking army which attempted to cross the 
frontier near the Sabatz Mountains had been routed with a 



234 THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 

loss of 15,000 killed and wounded. The Servian losses in this 
and other engagements were claimed to have been small in 
comparison with those of the enemy. 

Continuing their forward movement into Hungary, the 
Servians inflicted further losses on the Austrians near No- 
viapazow, while the Montenegrins reported a victory in the 
mountain slopes over their border. 

On October 1 it was reported that the Servians had again 
repulsed an Austrian attempt at invasion and had driven the 
Austrians back across the Drina with loss. They had also 
checked another Austrian attempt to take Belgrade. The 
Servian war office claimed that the combined Servian-Monte- 
negrin armies had made material progress in their invasion of 
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and that they were within striking dis- 
tance of Serajevo, which they expected to capture. This, how- 
ever, was denied by the Vienna ministry of war, which claimed 
that the Servian situation was entirely satisfactory to Austria. 

On October 5 Servian troops were reported to have begun 
a northeast advance from Semlin, to effect a junction with two 
Russian columns advancing southward in Hungary. One of 
these columns was then assaulting a fortress in Northwest 
Hungary, sixty-six miles southeast of Olmutz, while the other 
was descending the valley of the Nagyan against Huszt in the 
province of Marmaros. This latter province or county, which 
the Russians invaded through the Carpathian passes, lies in 
the northeast of Hungary, bordering on Galicia, Bukowina and 
Transylvania. There was a legend that the eastern Car- 
pathians are impregnable, but this legend was destroyed by 
the Russian invasion. 

Before attaining Uzsok pass, in the Carpathians, the Rus- 
sians successively captured by a wide flanking movement three 
well-masked positions which were strongly defended by guns. 
Each time the Russians charged the enemy fled and the Rus- 
sians followed up the Austrian retreat with shrapnel and 
quick fire, inflicting heavy losses. 

German troops joined the Austrian forces in Hungary and 
at some points succeeded in repulsing the invaders, though 
their general advance was not decisively checked and they con- 
tinued the endeavor to effect a junction with the Servians to 
the south. Advices from Budapest, October 6, declared that 



THE AUSTRO-SERVIAX CAMPAIGN 235 

the Russians had captured Marniaros-Sziget, capital of the 
county of Marrnaros, necessitating the removal of the govern- 
ment of that department to Huszt, twenty-eight miles west- 
northwest of Sziget. A second Eussian column was reported 
to be threatening Huszt and Austro-German reinforcements 
were being hurried up to check the Eussian advance. 




••BY ALLAH, I MAY HAVE TO INTERFERE IN THE 
NAME OF HUMANITY " 

— Kessler lo the New_York Evening Sun. 



CHAPTER XV 

MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

Army Commanders and Staff Officers of the Nations at War 
— The Kaiser and His Family — Earl Kitchener and 
His Achievements — Field Marshal Sir John French — 
King Albert of Belgium — The French Commander-in- 
Chief — Others in High Command. 

KAISER WILHELM II. OF GERMANY 

WILLIAM II., christened Friedrich Wilhelm Victor Albert, 
King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, was born 
January 27, 1859, at Berlin. He was the eldest son of 
Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, afterwards second Ger- 
man emperor, and of Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Brit- 
ain and Ireland. When a boy of 10 he was appointed second 
lieutenant in the First Regiment of the Guards, and then 
studied for two years at Bonn. In 1885 he was appointed 
colonel of the Hussars of the Guard. On June 15, 1888, on 
the death of his father, he became third emperor of Germany 
and ninth king of Prussia. He married February 27, 1881, 
Princess Augusta Victoria, daughter of Frederick, Duke of 
Augustenburg. They had six sons and one daughter: Fried- 
rich Wilhelm, born May 6, 1882, the crown prince, who mar- 
ried June 6, 1905, Cecilia, Duchess of Mecklenburg; Eitel 
Friedrich, born July 7, 1883, who married Princess Charlotte 
of Oldenburg, February 27, 1906; Adalbert, born July 14, 
1884; August Wilhelm, born January 29, 1887, who married 
Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein in 1907; 
Oskar, born July 27, 1888; Joachim, bom December 17, 1890 
and Victoria Luise, born September 13, 1892, who married 
Prince Ernost August of Cumberland, May 24, 1913. 

During his reign of more than a quarter of a century 
Kaiser Wilhelm has gradually attained a position of command- 

236 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 237 

ing power and influence in Europe. From his father and grand- 
father he inherited German militarism and German imperial- 
ism, a belief in the divine right of kings — especially in the 
divine right of the Hohenzollerns to rule, and in the strength 
of the German army. The lessons of German history are 
plain. Germany was built by ''blood and iron.-' The policy 
of Bismarck has been the continuing policy of the Germany 
he created. In less than ten years the great Chancellor turned 
a second-rate German state into an empire, a first-class power 
among the nations of the world. He did it by ''blood and 
iron," by unflinching diplomacy backed by the best trained 
army in Europe, ready for war wherever the army could be 
used. 

Though he dismissed Bismarck soon after his accession 
Kaiser Wilhelm has pursued the Bismarckian policy, while 
for the 26 years of his reign the German Empire has been at 
peace. His efforts have long prevented a European conflict, 
but as the event has proved, they only postponed it. While 
building up by the arts of peace a magnificent commerce for 
Germany he at the same time built up the mightiest war 
machine the world has ever seen ; and in recent years has sup- 
plemented the military power of his empire by the develop- 
ment of a great modern navy, second only in strength to that 
of Great Britain and threatening the latter 's supremacy on 
the seas. This, said the Kaiser, however, was for no ulterior 
motive of offense, but for the protection of Germany's world- 
wide commerce and as a precaution against possible future 
dangers in the Pacific. 

On his accession to the throne, in a speech he made to the 
army and navy, the Kaiser reiterated Bismarck's doctrine in 
these words : 

"The soldier and the army, not parliamentary majorities, 
have welded together the German empire. My confidence is 
in the army. ' ' 

And then, turning to his army officers, he said, in the words 
of his famous grandfather: "These are the gentlemen I rely 
upon." 

In furthering his imperialism, Emperor William has used 
the "mailed fist," that is, the threat of his army rather than 
the army itself. Under his policy Germany has prospered 



238 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

and grown apace. Her manufactures, commerce, wealth and 
culture have immeasurably increased. JSIow, in 1914, the Ger- 
man policy is being put to its severest test. The army itself 
is on trial. The mailed fist has fallen. Germany is sur- 
rounded by hostile armies and whether the Kaiser will be able 
to extricate himself, as did his illustrious ancestor, Frederick 
the Great, from a maze of enemies, remains to be seen. 

ANDREW CAENEGIE ON THE KAISER 

It is interesting at this time to note the personal opinion 
of the Kaiser held by one who stands in the forefront of the 
world's movements toward universal peace — the man who 
built the Peace Palace at The Hague and has had many oppor- 
tunities to study the personality of Emperor William. In an 
interview at New York on his return from Europe on Septem- 
ber 25, when the war was seven weeks old, Andrew Carnegie 
said: 

"I know the German emperor personally, and know him 
well. I know what he has done for the German people. It 
was not the Kaiser who brought on this terrible war. It was 
the Prussian military machine which forced him into it. It 
was not that the Kaiser was made the tool of militarism — 
tool is too weak a word for Emperor Wilhelm. It was that, 
strong as the Kaiser is, Prussian militarism was stronger. 

"I pity the German emperor from the bottom of my heart. 
He did not want this war, despite what many are saying — 
despite appearances. He has done too much toward peace. 
He has done more for the German peoples than any other 
ruler. He has preached temperance. Recently, it will be 
remembered, he forbade more than the most temperate use 
of any drink by the army — and this applied to both officers 
and men. 

"When the present Emperor of Germany assumed power, 
duelling in the army was common ; there was an average of 
120 or more fatal duels every year. Today there are none. 

"The German emperor is responsible for labor pensions 
and for the awakening of the people along industrial lines ; he 
has done too much along the lines of peace to be held respon- 
sible for this war. With nothing too bad to believe when it 
affects the 'military professionals' of Germany, I can believe 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 239 

only that it was military Germany — and not the Kaiser — that 
is responsible." 



' ' KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM ' ' 

When the war broke out and England realized the terrible 
menace of a German invasion, the people cried for their popu- 
lar hero to direct the military operations of the United King- 
dom. Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener — Earl 
Kitchener of Khartoum — was therefore called to the War 
Office by Premier Asquith, who of late had taken personal 
charge of that department, and the people became more con- 
fident. They had at least an ideal Secretary of War. 

For Earl Kitchener is not only a great general and a past 
master of military organization, but he is the idol of the Brit- 
ish soldier. "Tommy Atkins" in fact trusts him completely 
and will go blindly wherever Kitchener sends him, knowing 
that he will be well fed, well cared for in every respect, and 
not exposed to danger unless it is absolutely necessary. 

HOW KITCHENER WON IN THE DESERT 

A striking example of Kitchener's method of organization 
is to be found in his Egyptian campaign, when he took his 
25,000 men from Cairo up the Nile to Omdurman, where he 
triumphed over the hordes of the Kalifa, destroying in a 
one-day battle nearly 17,000 natives. It took him three years 
to lead his troops through the desert to the place of conflict. 
Not a mile did he let them advance without the little railroad, 
which his corps of engineers began to build at Cairo, having 
preceded them to a farther point, to carry the provisions, 
ammunition and all that was needed to make the new camp 
safe and comfortable. 

The re-conquest of Khartoum, the retaliation dealt out to 
the natives for the slaughter of General (Chinese) Gordon and 
the pacification of the most rebellious part of the British 
Empire, made of Kitchener a national hero. He was appointed 
Sirdar, or commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army, created 
Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum — "K. of K.," for short, in 
the people's mouth — and henceforth the belief arose that of 
all the British commanders he was the best tactician, the most 
careful organizer, the most competent administrator, and that, 



240 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

if Great Britain had to fight, he above all others would lead 
her to victory. 

SUCCESSES IN AFRICA AND INDIA 

It is needless to recall how Kitchener won the Boer war, 
and, having won it, how he applied his administrative genius 
to the establishment and solidification of peace. Within barely 
fifteen years the Boers have grown to be counted among the 
most loyal subjects of the British Crown. 

Shortly after his triumph in South Africa, Kitchener was 
put in command of the British forces in India, and with the 
support of the home government, worked wonders with the 
British army and the natives of India. 

On his return trip to England, in 1910, he visited Australia 
and New Zealand, inspecting the military organizations of 
those dominions and helping with his advice. It is interesting 
to Americans to know that while Australia was planning the 
establishment of a military school Kitchener suggested that 
West Point be taken as a model. 

"The West Point cadets are the smartest body of young- 
men I have ever seen," he said. 

About that time it was rumored that the hero of Khartoum 
was about to take an American wife. The truth is that Earl 
Kitchener has remained an inveterate bachelor until now, his 
65th year. 

MADE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 

Upon his return to England from India, and after but a 
short rest, he was sent to Egypt as "His Majesty's Consul- 
General, ' ' which means governor of the land of the Khedive. 
Egypt is Britain's most valuable protectorate, and a par- 
ticularly difficult one to hold without friction with the native 
government. 

Little more than two years of Kitchener's rule made a 
different country of Egypt. He governed with an iron hand, 
with that stern, inflexible will for which he is known, and yet 
so equitably that even the most rebellious soon learned that 
submitting to the consul was to every one's greatest advan- 
tage. 

In June of this year (1914) Kitchener went to London to 
receive the honors awaiting him there. He had been made a 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 241 

viscount and a peer of England before. This time he was 
given the title of earl in recognition of his services in Egypt. 
Hardly had England's greatest soldier received this 
reward for past services than he was again called forward to 
duty as the directing genius of Great Britain's army in the 
European conflict. 

SERVED AGAINST GERMANY, IX 1S70-71 

The hero of Khartoum did not enter the military career 
by chance. It is a tradition in his family. His father was 
lieutenant-colonel of the Thirteenth Dragoons and stationed 
in County Kerry at the time of the future great man's birth 
in 1850. Hence the belief of some that he is Irish. The real 
seat of his family is Aspall, in Suffolk, and through his 
mother, whose maiden name was Chevalier, there is Huguenot 
blood running through his veins. 

When he had been graduated from "Woolwich Military 
School, just as the Franco-Prussian war broke out, he doubt- 
less had in mind the motto of his family: ''Thorough." 
His training was well enough, but he wanted to get a more 
"thorough "idea of what war meant, and secretly engaged in 
the French army under General Clancy. When all ^vas over 
the secret leaked out, and the Duke of Cambridge, then com- 
mander-in-chief of the British military forces, called the 
young offender before him. Ordinarily his action would have 
been punished by unconditional dismissal from the army. 
But Kitchener explained his step so well and gave such highly 
patriotic reasons for it that the Duke let him off with a severe 
reprimand and an encouraging pat on the shoulder. 

So it is now for the second time that Kitchener finds him- 
self opposing Germany. But this time it is not as an obscure 
volunteer, but, indeed, as one great warrior facing another. 

Earl Kitchener is a tall man, with heavy gray moustache 
and wavy gray hair, which he wears parted in the middle. He 
has a sunburnt, determined-looking face, large steel-blue eyes, 
and square jaws. 

Many good stories are told of him, a characteristic one 
being his reply to the War Office, which sent him obsolete guns 
when he asked for the newest. He is reported to have sent 
the sarcastic reply, "I can throw stones at the enemy myself." 



242 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

KING ALBEKT OF BELGIUM 

The young King of Belgium, who, by the way, is a man 39 
years of age, has occupied a prominent position in the war of 
1914. His heroic defense of his little kingdom has been the 
wonder and the admiration of the world, and he has personally 
led his gallant army in the field and sustained a wound during 
the operations. When his country was first invaded by the 
Germans in their early rush towards Paris, he issued a spir- 
ited proclamation calling upon his soldiers to stand shoulder 
to shoulder against the foreign foe and defend their country 
to the last drop of their blood. How nobly they responded 
is recorded elsewhere in these pages. 

King Albert succeeded his uncle, the aged Leopold II., 
whom he strongly resembles in feature. His full name is 
Albert Leopold Clement Marie Menard. He was born in 
Brunswick, Germany, on April 8, 1875, and is the sole surviv- 
ing son of the Count of Flanders, who died in 1905. He was 
married in 1900 to Elizabeth, Duchess of Bavaria, third daugh- 
ter of Duke Charles of Bavaria, and was crowned King of 
Belgium in 1909. 

In 1898 King Albert, while heir-presumptive, spent sev- 
eral months in America. In 1910 he sent to America a distin- 
guished Belgian diplomat, Baron de Beaulieu, to notify the 
President officially of his accession to the throne and was the 
first European sovereign to signalize his accession by an offi- 
cial step so highly complimentary to the United States. 

The personal disposition of the Belgian King is decidedly 
studious. His hobby is engineering and he is specially inter- 
ested in electrical subjects, including wireless telegraphy, on 
which he is seeking to become an authority. Among Euro- 
pean sovereigns he ranks as a hard-working, liberal, modern 
constitutional monarch. 



THE FRENCH COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

General Jofrre, the commander of the French forces in the 
war, has had a highly interesting career. Born in the south 
of France, he had several brothers, and seems to have con- 
siderably worried his loquacious nurse by his silence in the 
cradle. She insisted that her tiny charge was tongue-tied and 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 243 

the child's mother, Mme. Joffre, had all the difficulty in the 
world to keep her from calling in a doctor. To the delight 
of every person, he finally began to lisp a few words. But the 
general has never been much of a talker. 

Before he had finished his first year at the Polytechnique, 
the war of 1870 broke out and young Joffre marched to the 
front where the fire was heaviest. In fact, such zeal and abil- 
ity did he show that after the war had finished he was commis- 
sioned to organize new defenses for Paris. 

It was after his plans that the Enghien fortifications were 
put up. One day Marshal McMahon and his "Etat major" 
visited the fort, and after a thorough round of investigation 
the former turned to the silent lieutenant: "I congratulate 
you, captain. ' ' Captain at the early age of 22 was a fact that 
made the other officers open their eyes. 

So satisfactory was Joffre 's work at Enghien that he was 
immediately appointed to organize the defensive works of 
Pontarlier on the eastern border. 

His work completed there, he was sent off to construct 
fortifications and barracks at Tonkin. But just about this 
time General Courbet arrived on the scene. Now Courbet was 
an excellent judge of men and he did not require many talks 
with Joffre to convince him that the sword, not the trowel, was 
the proper tool for this silent soldier. 

General Courbet took Joffre with him to Formosa, where, 
under the fire of the enemy, he organized the island 's defense. 
Later we see him in Madagascar, building the wonderful forti- 
fications of Diego-Suarez ; then in Dahomey. Here his friend, 
Colonel Bonnier, was killed by the natives. Joffre was com- 
manding the rearguard. Rallying the fugitives, he succeeded 
in overcoming the enemy and soon made his entry into Tim- 
buktu. After this campaign he returned to France, which he 
has never left, but has devoted his time to passing on his val- 
uable experience to the soldiers at the Ecole de Guerre 
(School of War). 

Stern warrior though he is, General Joffre is at heart the 
kindest of men, and those about his country home tell many 
instances of his thoughtfulness and generosity. Unlike the 
Kaiser, he is a strong advocate of friendly relations between 
officers and soldiers, and has done much to encourage such 



244 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

feelings in the French army. He himself is liked by all his 
subordinates, and it is interesting to note that General Joffre's 
appointment as commander-in-chief of the French forces was 
made by the members of the superior council of war without 
a single dissenting voice, and on the proposal of General Pau 
himself. 



FIELD MARSHAL SIR JOHN FRENCH 

As commander-in-chief of the British expeditionary forces 
on the continent of Europe, Sir John Denton Pinkstone 
French has added lustre to the fame he already enjoyed as 
one of the two foremost active generals of the British army. 
Next to Earl Kitchener he is the most striking military figure 
of Great Britain. 

Field Marshal French is 62 years of age, gray-haired and 
of short, stocky figure. His Irish blue eyes retain their spar- 
kle and Ireland is proud to claim him as a son. His family 
originally intended him for the Church, but when he was 14 he 
chose the navy instead and joined a cadets' training-ship. In 
1874 he left the navy for the army and soon proved his mili- 
tary aptitude and skill. From 1889 to 1893 he commanded 
the Nineteenth Hussars, rising steadily in rank after that 
until in 1907 he was made inspector-general of the army and in 
1913 attained the height of military ambition when he was 
gazetted field-marshal. 

Sir John French has seen more active service than usually 
falls to the lot of even a British soldier, and he has secured 
many brilliant results. In the Boer war he was the one 
English general who was uniformly successful. It was said 
of his soldiers that they never slept. During the siege of 
Kimberley he was shut up in Ladysmith, surrounded by Boers 
and with no retreat or movement of any kind possible for the 
British troops under his command. But Kimberley, with its 
great wealth of diamonds, had to be saved — and Sir John 
French was needed there. He seemed to be the one man 
capable of relieving Kimberley. The Boers were permitting 
trains to leave Ladysmith with women and children only, and 
General French managed to get through the Boer lines by 
concealing himself in one of these non-combatant trains. Then, 
making his way to Capetown, he was placed in command of 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 245 

about 8,000 cavalrymen. With these he swept through all the 
enemy's obstacles, riding day and night, to Kimberley, which 
he relieved just in time to prevent its surrender. 

War is Field Marshal French's profession, and in him the 
Kaiser's generals and strategists have found a foeman worthy 
of their steel. 



FIELD MAESHAL VOX DEE GOLTZ 

Field Marshal Baron Kolmar von der Goltz, who was 
appointed military governor of the occupied part of Belgium, 
is regarded by the Germans as one of the leading military 
men in Europe, and has been a power in the organization and 
training of the Kaiser's army. It was General von der Goltz 
who organized and trained the Turkish army which partici- 
pated in the Balkan war. 

Von der Goltz, despite his advanced age — he is now 71 — 
is still a man of great energy and endurance. Only a few 
years ago he visited the Argentine Eepublic, traveled on 
horseback through the pampas of that country, and soon after 
his return to Germany, without taking a rest, he led the Ger- 
man general staff in the military maneuvers of that year. 

Such exertions are nothing to him, and during other 
maneuvers he has been seen in the saddle all day, and then the 
same evening was observed in his tent busy at work writing 
a military book on which he was engaged until an early hour 
in the morning. Personally he is one of the most unassuming 
and modest of men. He cares nothing at all for titles or rank. 
He hates red tape and never hesitates to give expression to 
his opinions, both in speaking and writing. He was the first 
one, in his famous book, "People in Arms," to urge the intro- 
duction of two years' military service, and also in a number 
of magazine and newspaper articles called the attention of the 
German people to the nature of war, and to the military duties 
which they owed to the Fatherland. 

Von der Goltz 's greatest achievement in recent years has 
been his energetic work in behalf of the German scout move- 
ment. For this purpose, under the name of "Jung Deutsch- 
land," he formed a society to serve as a nucleus of all organ- 
izations in any way interested in physical welfare. 

At the opening meeting Von der Goltz in a notable address, 



246 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

which attracted the widest attention, urged the necessity of 
strengthening the physical being of the German youth, on 
which he said depended the future of the German nation. By 
establishing the new national society, he declared it was not 
aimed to come into competition with similar ones already 
existing, but merely to more effectively promote the physical 
welfare of the boys, while they were still going to school and 
before they entered the German army. 



THE GERMAN CROWN PRINCE 

An extraordinary figure in the field is that of Crown Prince 
Frederick William of Germany, in command of the central 
army during the German advance into France and the subse- 
quent operations of the war. He is 32 years of age, tall, slim 
and impulsive. For several years he has been regarded as 
the leader of the war-seeking party in Germany. He is a pro- 
found admirer of Napoleon, firmly believes in the theory of 
divine right, and has been thoroughly trained for rulership in 
the traditions of the Bismarckian policy. 

The Kaiser has had several notable differences with his 
hot-headed son, whom he has found it necessary to discipline 
more than once. It is said that he remarked of him not long 
ago, "Well, William is no diplomat. I will admit it, but I 
believe he has got marrow in his bones. He may turn out to 
be our Moltke yet. ' ' 

Victory, disappointment and defeat all perched upon the 
banners of the Crown Prince at various times in the early 
stages of the war. He was reported to have petulantly broken 
the sword of a French commander who surrendered to him 
after a desperate resistance. While reckless of human life, 
he seemed to be animated by a sincere desire for the physical 
comfort and welfare of his troops between battles, sending 
several appeals to Berlin for supplies of minor comforts to be 
sent to them in the field. 



GENERAL COUNT VON MOLTKE 

General von Moltke, chief of the German general staff, is 
one of the most picturesque figures of the present war. He 
is 66 years of age and saw active service in the Franco-Prus- 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 247 

sian war forty-four years ago and distinguished himself 
notably. 

From the first he has been a favorite with the Kaiser. 
His appointment as chief of staff was, in fact, a declaration 
on the Kaiser's part that the army was to be run along lines 
of the old school — with a mailed fist. 

He was born May 23, 1848, in Gersdorf, Mecklenburg. He 
attended the gymnasium at Kendsberg and became a cornet on 
April 1, 1869. In 1870 he was promoted to be lieutenant and 
took part with distinction in the war against France, being 
decorated with the iron cross of the second class. 

In 1881 he was assigned to the general staff of the army. 
In the same year he was made captain on the general staff 
and in 1882 he became second adjutant to the chief of the gen- 
eral staff of the army, his uncle, Field Marshal Count von 
Moltke. 

On the death of Field Marshal von Moltke, in 1891, he 
became aid-de-camp to the Kaiser. 

In 1896 he became major-general and commandant at Pots- 
dam. 

He has been chief of the general staff of the army since 
February 16, 1904. As chief of the general staff he succeeded 
Field Marshal Count von Schlieffen. The latter, who was 
nearly 73 years old, was kicked severely by a horse and crip- 
pled. A rule of the general staff is that no one not physically 
sound may remain on it. Even fat men are excluded from 
this most honored department of the German army. 



HOW GENERAL PAU LOST HIS ARM 

General Paul Gerald Pau, the French hero of the second 
capture of Muelhausen, and whose army has borne one of the 
prominent parts in the war, in a letter recently published, 
written to his mother soon after the battle of Woerth in 1870, 
in which he lost his right arm, told the story of his wound as 
follows : 

' ' My Good Mother : As I don 't know if any of the letters 
that I have written to you have arrived, or, rather, since I 
have strong reasons for believing that none of them has 
reached you, while this time I may hope that you will be able 



248 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

to see my autograph, I am going to relate my adventures at 
length. 

"First of all, the originality of the preceding seven lines 
must lead you to think that they were traced by a foot instead 
of a hand. Undeceive yourself and laugh neither at the first 
efforts of an unpracticed hand, nor at the style. Besides the 
fact that I speak almost exclusively German just now, I swear 
that elegant phrases don't flow easily when it takes five min- 
utes to trace a line. 

"But I am forgetting that I haven't told you the main 
thing. I am wounded, but you see not dangerously. It was 
August 6 in the battle of Woerth. I had up to that time the 
luck not to be touched in the midst of a rain of iron and lead, 
when a shell smashed a tree near me and a splinter struck 
me on the right hand and put two fingers hors de combat. An 
hour afterward I regretted much less the loss of the above 
mentioned digits because a Bavarian bullet fractured the same 
hand and lodged itself between the two bones of my wrist, 
from which I delicately extracted it. 

' ' I was then ordered to the ambulance, and it was while I 
dragged myself along in that direction obliged to pass under 
the fire of the Prussian batteries I received the fragment of a 
shell in my right thigh. 

"Unnecessary for me to tell you that all is quite well with 
me. It is true they had to amputate my wrist, but the opera- 
tion was highly successful. How could it be otherwise? I 
am with the best folks in the world, nursed like a child of the 
family. Visits, each more affectionate than the last, I don't 
lack. 

"Enough of myself. I needn't tell you that I am anxious 
for both your poor Lorraine and our poor France. Shall I be 
a long while before I can fly toward Nancy? 

' ' ' Trailing a wing and dragging a foot. ' It is La Fontaine 
who gives the answer. 

' 'In the meantime a thousand kisses and hoping to see you 
soon. Gerald." 



GENERAL SIR H. L. SMITH-DORRIEJST 

General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, hero of the 
historic retreat of the English from Belgium, has long been 



MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 249 

known as one of the best fighting officers in the British army. 
From his entry into the service in 1876 down to and through 
the Boer war, he saw almost constant service in the field, 
extending from Zululand to the northwest frontier of India. 

Educated at Harrow, he joined when 18 years old the 
Sherwood Foresters. At the disastrous battle of Isandula, in 
1879, he was one of the few officers who, by his athletic powers 
as runner and swimmer, escaped the Zulu warriors and lived 
to take part in the battle of Ulundi, when King Cetewayo was 
finally disposed of. He was mentioned in dispatches, and 
since then honors have fallen fast upon him. 

General Smith-Dorrien was in the Egyptian campaign of 
1882, in which year he raised and commanded a corps of 
mounted infantry, and in 1885, with his mounted infantry, did 
good work at Suakin. Eeturning to Egypt in 1898, he took 
part in the Nile expedition, and was present at the battle of 
Khartoum, and in the subsequent operations in the Soudan. 

In the Boer war General Smith-Dorrien was mainly instru- 
mental in bringing about the capture of Cronje and his army. 
By his attack upon the Boers on the Modder River, the Gordon 
Highlanders, the Canadians and the Eoyal Engineers secured 
a strong position, from which they enfiladed the enemy's 
trenches, and by preventing them from drawing water, pre- 
cipitated Cronje 's surrender. He afterward commanded the 
lines of communication from Kroonstadt to Pretoria. His 
work was three times mentioned in dispatches and his reward 
was the Queen's medal with four clasps and promotion to 
major-general for distinguished service in the field. 



GENERAL RUSSKY, VICTOR OF LEMBERG 

General Nicholas Vladimirovich Eussky, whose victories 
in Austrian territory, including the taking of Lemberg and 
the capture of many thousands of Austrian soldiers in an 
advance remarkable for its quickness, have given him the nick- 
name ''Eussky the Spectacular" among military writers, was 
already known when he entered upon the campaign of 1914. 
That reputation he won in the Eusso-Turkish war and in the 
war with Japan. Educated in the Petrograd gymnasium, the 
Constantine Military School and the Nicholas Academy of 
the General Staff, he made a thorough study of his profession 



250 MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 

and passed with high honors. In the field he won distinction 
early, becoming colonel at 31 and major-general at 42. His 
achievements in the Russo-Turkish war marked him for a high 
position in the next campaign, and at the beginning of the 
Japanese war he was appointed chief of staff in the Second 
Manchurian army. He has subsequently turned to good 
account the lessons he learned in the course of that campaign 
in the organization and command of masses of troops. 



CHIEF OF THE AUSTRIAN STAFF 

The direction of the armies of Austria-Hungary lies in the 
hands of Baron Conrad von Hoetzendorff. He enjoys the 
confidence of the aged Emperor, Francis Joseph, and of the 
rank and file of the army. He is regarded as the Kitchener 
of Austria, having unusual qualifications and capacity for 
army organization. 

He was made chief of the general staff in 1906, receiving 
the rank of full general in 1908. Three years later he was 
relieved from this position to become inspector-general of the 
army, but was recalled to the post of chief of staff in 1912. 



GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS OF RUSSIA 

Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaiovitch is generalissimo of 
the Russian army, directing the operations of the gigantic 
force in the field. He is probably the tallest member of the 
reigning house of Russia and looks what he is, a born cavalry- 
man. He won the St. George's Cross for gallantry on the 
battlefields of the Turkish war of 1877 and is rated as one of 
the most clever and brilliant cavalry leaders living. The Rus- 
sian army has been reorganized since the war with Japan. 



LEADING RUSSIAN GENERAL KILLED 

General Samsoniv, one of the Russian commanders killed, 
was considered one of Russia's most capable and brilliant gen- 
erals. He distinguished himself greatly in the Russo-Japan- 
ese war, in which he commanded a division of Siberian Cos- 
sacks. He afterward was nominated commander of an army 
corps, and later was appointed commander of the troops in 
Turkestan. 






MILITARY LEADERS OF EUROPE 251 

He lived in Tashkent, Eussian Turkestan, until the present 
war was declared. He was very popular, and his name was a 
household word among all classes of the population. 



THE GERMAN CAVALRY LEADER 

General Von Marnitz was in command of the German 
cavalry which formed the extreme right of the Kaiser's army 
in France, and which covered the advance of General von 
Kluck's turning movement and astonished the world by its 
speed and spread. His cavalry penetrated even to the south- 
west of Paris. 



CHAPTER XVI 

AMERICANS IN EUROPE 

Thousands Stranded in Belligerent Countries When War 
Came — General Shortage of Funds — Much Suffering 
and Hardship — Exciting Scenes in London, Paris and 
Berlin — Uncle Sam Sends Relief Ships With Funds. 

THE outbreak of war at the beginning of the month of 
August found Europe literally overrun, as usual at that 
season, by thousands of American tourists — gay and fes- 
tive throngs of sightseers in all the show-places of the Conti- 
nent and in every nook and corner of the British Isles. 

Suddenly as a thunderclap from a clear sky came the shock 
of war ! London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Geneva, and 
all the host of minor cities, towns and villages frequented by 
American visitors in the tourist season, shut up shop! All 
means of transportation were closed to civilians; gold and 
silver money became scarce because needed for war, and went 
to a premium ; hotels closed down for lack of the male help that 
had been called to the colors ; transatlantic travel was para- 
lyzed ; travelers ' checks and letters of credit lost their value ; 
all foreigners were regarded with suspicion in a frenzied hunt 
for spies ; and all Americans in Europe found themselves in a 
pandemonium of military activity in which they were given 
plainly to understand that their room was preferred to their 
company. 

The change came in a day and dated from August 1, when 
hitherto courteous and even obsequious European hotel, inn 
and shop keepers were transformed into monuments of anxiety 
and suspicion. From being honored and much-sought visitors 
in Continental countries, Americans found themselves of a 
sudden in the role of unwelcome guests. For awhile many 

252 



AMERICANS IN EUROPE 253 

thousands of tliem were absolutely helpless and their plight 
was pitiable in the extreme. The universal problem among 
them all was, how to get home. The ordinary means were 
useless. 

" America must help her stranded children," wrote Ster- 
ling Heilig from neutral Switzerland on August 16. "A hun- 
dred thousand of us are in debt, difficulty, humiliation and 
danger. ' ' 

GOLD OBTAINED WITH DIFFICULTY 

"For a few days," said Charles A. Conant, the New York 
banker, "it looked as though the entire machinery of banking 
and credit built up in Europe during forty years of peace had 
been brought to a standstill, and as if the American market 
would be compelled also to suspend its activities. 

"The New York Stock Exchange, under a torrent of orders 
from Europe to sell American securities held abroad, remained 
open until the close of business on Thursday, July 30, but was 
closed the next morning after a consultation between the gov- 
erning board and big banking interests. In the meantime, the 
usual mechanism of foreign exchange had broken down, partly 
because shipping was threatened by the war, and insurance 
rates for the shipment of gold had become prohibitive. Even 
such credits as were possessed by American banks abroad were 
in a state of suspense and drafts on England, which should 
have been sold at the highest at $4.90 to the pound sterling, 
rose to $5.25 and even in some cases to $6. 

"The seriousness of the situation abroad was manifested 
by almost every cable message which came from the great 
centers of finance — London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brus- 
sels and Petrograd. The French and English governments 
promptly declared a moratorium, which means that the holder 
of documentary obligations, like bills of exchange and promis- 
sory notes, cannot enforce payment according to the terms of 
the obligation until the delay granted has expired. In France, 
the payment of specie at the Bank of France was promptly 
suspended ; in Germany, gold was gotten only with difficulty 
and in trifling amounts from any of the banks; in Belgium 
specie suspension occurred, and in Holland similar action was 
accompanied by authority to the National Bank of the Nether- 



254 AMERICANS IN EUROPE 

lands to issue additional notes to the amount of $200,000,000. 
In France, also, the limit of circulation of the Bank 
of France was increased at one jump from $1,300,000,000 to 
$2,300,000,000. 

"Even the rock-ribbed Bank of England was subjected to 
a run for gold in exchange for its notes, which cut down its 
reserve by more than $50,000,000 in less than a week and led 
ultimately to the suspension of the bank act of 1844, which 
limits the amount of notes that can be issued without gold. 
London has long prided herself on being the clearing-house of 
the world, and on being the only market where obligations 
were payable promptly for their full value in gold. The very 
fact, however, that the London market was a clearing-house 
for obligations from all over the European continent and from 
Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which could not be collected 
promptly, naturally deprived her of the means of making 
her usual settlements and made it necessary to allow a breath- 
ing-spell in order to reconstruct the machinery of exchange. ' ' 

DETAINED IN EUROPEAN CITIES 

Just how many American citizens were caught in Europe 
by the war and suffered from the war conditions of finance and 
travel, will probably never be known. Millionaires found their 
paper money and their wealth of no avail ; some were only too 
glad to return to the United States in the steerage of second- 
class ships. A Vanderbilt and four hundred other wealthy 
Americans esteemed themselves fortunate when they suc- 
ceeded in chartering a small Italian steamer, the Principe 
di Udini, in which to sail from Genoa for home. Others, by the 
thousands, were detained in European capitals for several 
weeks before the situation was relieved and they were able 
to secure passage across the Atlantic. 

In all the capitals and at various other points congested by 
the stranded visitors, American committees were formed to 
aid their compatriots in every way possible. These com- 
mittees, amid exciting scenes in London, Paris, Berlin and else- 
where, did an immense amount of good in straightening out 
the situation and earned the gratitude of thousands whose 
immediate wants they relieved. The United States ambassa- 
dors in Europe rendered invaluable services in the emergency ; 



AMERICANS IN EUROPE 255 

while the consuls-general and consuls at many points also 
helped materially in relieving actual distress and securing 
homeward passage for Americans. 

"There are 200,000 Americans in Europe,' ' said the Ven- 
erable Archdeacon Nies of the American Episcopal church in 
Europe. This was in the middle of August and while the num- 
ber stated by the archdeacon may possibly have been an out- 
side estimate there are many well-informed persons who be- 
lieve it to have been well within the mark. Archdeacon Nies 
said further : 

1 'Imagine 1,000 sailing on each ship and 200 ships will be 
required to send them home. They are not only the 1914 crop 
of tourists, but a long accumulation— students, artists, artistes, 
invalids, parents educating their young children, foreign resi- 
dents. Even expatriates are Americans, and no one wants 
them to starve." 

When the cry went up from the Americans in Europe for 
ships to take them home, the absence of an American merchant 
marine was brought home to them as never before. There was 
dire need of American ships, but alas, there were none ! Ships 
of war are unsuited to carry passengers and had it not been 
for the fact that Atlantic steamship travel, minus the German 
vessels, was soon resumed, the Atlantic being kept open by 
British cruisers, the transatlantic tourists stood a poor chance 
of getting home. As it was, the great majority were enabled 
to return in September, to gladden their eyes with the sight 
of the Goddess of Liberty or the sunny shores of New England 
— and to highly resolve that hereafter they would counsel their 
friends to ' ' see America first. ' ' 

AN EXPERIENCE TYPICAL OF MANY 

One experience, typical of thousands, may be related. It 
was that of Mr. Louis P. Lochner, secretary of the Chicago 
Peace Society, who encountered thrills, hardships and excite- 
ment, in fleeing from Paris and France. Mr. Lochner went 
abroad early in the summer of 1914 to attend two international 
peace conferences, both of which were abandoned when the 
war broke out. For some time afterward his friends were 
unable to obtain news of his condition or whereabouts and 
fears for his safety were expressed. On his return he de- 



256 AMERICANS IN EUROPE 

scribed the fierce struggle of Americans to get accommoda- 
tions on the steamer La France, which left Havre on August 
14; also his attempts to get railroad passage to the seaport 
from Paris. 

"The railroad office in Paris was our objective after we 
learned that the ship was to sail," said Mr. Lochner. "A long 
line of applicants was ahead of us there, but a deliberate policy 
of 'watchful waiting' finally was rewarded by our obtaining 
a third-class ticket on a military train that was to leave for 
Havre at 3 o 'clock the next morning. 

' ' It was one thing to obtain a railway ticket — it was another 
to get the necessary papers for leaving the city. We were 
directed to every conceivable police office except the right one, 
and only the sixth attempt brought us into the august presence 
of the right official. We thought we were early when we 
reached the station, at 9 o 'clock P. M. We found many fellow- 
countrymen had taken up their position six hours earlier. 
What a motley crowd we were ! Here were ladies who had come 
to Paris for the social season. Some of them had as many as 
four party gowns on their persons, and were incumbered by 
costly furs, which looked particularly out of place on an 
August night. Then there were ordinary, every-day Ameri- 
cans whose chief stock-in-trade was pocketfuls of sandwiches. " 

Describing the journey, Mr. Lochner said: "At every 
station soldiers got on or off, all of them in the prime of life, 
and, judging from the women and children who waved a fond 
farewell to them, for the most part men of family. 'Food for 
powder. ' I could not get the phrase out of my mind. It was 
heartrending to see the bountiful farmlands standing heavy 
with grain, but the reapers gone. The scene became especially 
pathetic when we saw, here and there, baby carriages in the 
midst of a wheat field, the children amusing themselves as best 
they could, while their mothers, in addition to many cares, 
were trying to save a little of the harvest. 

"The most exciting event in Havre was the landing of 
thousands of British troops. What a splendid, physically per- 
fect lot they were, each transport bringing so many additional 
men and horses. ' Food for powder ' — the phrase haunts me. 

"A happier company there never was than ours when we 



AMERICANS IN EUROPE 257 

weighed anchor for America and left behind us what seems to 
have been a horrible dream, but what in reality is the foulest 
blot upon Christian civilization. ' ' 

BELIEF FUNDS SENT TO EUEOPE 

Most of those who were first to return from Europe were 
tourists of the wealthier class. Thousands of school teachers, 
students and others, who went abroad with only sufficient 
funds to meet their expenses under normal conditions, were 
for awhile in dire straits. The United States government was 
called upon to aid these Americans and Congress, having 
appropriated $2,500,000 for the purpose, the U. S. cruisers 
Tennessee and North Carolina were sent to Europe with a 
total of $5,500,000 in gold coin to relieve the distressed. They 
reached Falmouth, England, on August 16. A large part of 
the money they carried represented funds deposited with the 
Treasury at Washington by the home friends of Americans 
in Europe, who took this means of sending them the where- 
withal to return home. 

Volumes might be filled with the tales of the returned 
travelers, but this is a chronicle of the military and more tragic 
phases of the European conflict ; then, too, the story of what 
happened to them in Europe and how they got away has been 
told in every local journal in the land and is being related 
nightly at thousands of firesides in every state of the Union. 
For there was one compensating phase of the lot of our suffer- 
ing compatriots abroad. As the New York Times aptly put it : 

''Theirs will be the Virgilian joys of remembering all these 
wild happenings, of rehearsing them endlessly to interested 
relatives and acquaintances at least decently resigned, and of 
being freed for the rest of their lives from the common neces- 
sity of filling in conversational gaps with talk about the 
weather. It is no small thing to have been even an involuntary 
part of historic events, and enviable indeed is he or she who 
can turn to a page in history and say, 'AH this I saw and some 
of it I was." 



CHAPTER XVII 

TYPICAL EXPERIENCES OF WARTIME 

Scenes in the Fatherland — Conditions in Rural France — An 
Eyewitness's Story of the German Advance — Slaughter 
Fails to Stop Germans — Stories of American Visitors 
in Warring Countries. 

COUNT THRONBERG, a correspondent who reached 
Copenhagen September 4, after a trip through Germany, 
wrote an interesting description of the scenes he had wit- 
nessed during his tour of observation. He said : 

"I have just returned from a trip through Berlin, Leipsic, 
Dresden, Hanover, Hamburg, and other large German cities. 
In spite of the difficulties of transportation and the conspicu- 
ous reception of foreigners, I was able closely to observe the 
conditions of the country and the state of its people. 

"At the outset, during the period of general mobilization, 
the whole country resembled an armed camp. Soldiers were 
everywhere. Ordinary railway traffic was suspended to allow 
their trains to pass. There was much bustle and activity and 
unbounded optimism prevailed. Troops went singing to the 
front. There was no thought but that of speedy victory. 

"Now Germany is a land of much mourning. I walked 
down Friedrichstrasse in Berlin and counted on one section 
sixteen women wearing deep mourning out of nineteen women 
I saw there. The train which conveyed me from the capital to 
Hamburg was full of women in black. 

' ' Germany has called in her last line of reserves, and almost 
every household is directly concerned in the war. In some 
families all the male members are at the front. 

"The losses have been colossal. I believe I am within the 
mark in stating that more than 100,000 German soldiers 

258 




1. Belgian Armored Motor Cars with Machine Gun. 
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

2. Italian "Ironclad" on Wheels with Gun Turret. 
© International News Serrlce. 




« c 

■ 15 






£ 3 



8 < 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 259 

already have been killed or wounded in various battles on the 
eastern frontier, the western frontier, in Belgium, and in 
France. 

LOSSES IN FRANCE HEAVIEST 

"The heaviest of all have been the casualties in the con- 
tinuous fighting along the Mons-Charleroi line and in the 
present positions of the forces before Paris. 

"I have passed through Berlin, Leipsic, Dresden, Hanover, 
Hamburg, and Cologne, and everywhere was profoundly 
impressed by the absence of the usual noise of great cities. 

"There is little traffic in the streets. Horses and motor 
cars have been commandeered for military service at the front. 
Cabmen and drivers are with their regiments. There are far 
fewer goods to deliver, for trade in many branches is at a 
standstill. 

"Tramways and omnibuses continue to run with reduced 
service in all German towns, but the great majority of con- 
ductors are women. 

WOMEN DRIVING TAXICABS 

"Women taxicab drivers, too, made their appearance in 
Berlin as in cities in other countries. Railway booking clerks, 
signal men, crossing watchmen, guards, and ticket collectors 
have all been replaced by women. 

"Postoffices are conducted almost exclusively by women, 
for the men, if too old to go to the front, are engaged in 
patrolling the railway lines, guarding tunnels and bridges, and 
performing other similar military duties on the lines of com- 
munication. 

"Trains are running much as usual on most lines, but there 
are no sleeping cars and no dining cars. Trade depression is 
general. Hundreds of factories have ceased to work and thou- 
sands of shops are closed. 

CONFIDENT GERMANS WOULD WIN 

"There is a shortage of food and drastic official measures 
have been taken in some districts to husband the supplies. 
Thousands of merchants are ruined and will have to start life 
again after the war. 

"The official classes and the wealthy, the professors, and 
others are aggressively confident. They foretell the ultimate 



260 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

triumph of Germany against all foes and the establishment of 
a greater German empire which shall include France, Belgium, 
Holland, the greater part of Austria, and the whole of King 
George 's dominion. ' ' 



WOMEN LABOR IN THE FIELDS OF RURAL FRANCE, SWEPT BY 
HARDSHIPS OF WAR 

(By Herbert Corey, Special Correspondent of the Chicago 

Daily News) 

PARIS, September 9, 1914. — Except that no torch has 
yet touched a farmhouse wall and no throat has yet been slit 
by sword, rural France is today a sacked and pillaged country. 
This year's crop has — broadly speaking — all been lost. Next 
year's crop cannot be planted. The men who could save the 
one and plant the other are wearing blue coats and tramping 
in ironshod boots toward the front. France 's agricultural ruin 
for the moment is complete. 

"I have forty acres in cut grain lying there rotting, 
m 'sieu, ' ' said a crippled man near Dreux. ' ' My son has gone to 
the war. There are no men left in the country. The govern- 
ment has taken my horses and cattle. This winter we will 
starve. ' ' 

It was not far from Dreux that we saw an old woman swing- 
ing a cradle through the standing grain. Her white hair 
glistened in the sun. As she recovered from each slow and 
painful swing she rested a moment and placed a hand upon 
her aching back. We got out of the automobile to talk to her. 
As we drew near we saw the other old woman, who bound the 
cut grain into sheaves, was muttering and laughing to herself. 
As we approached she screamed and began to run clumsily 
through the fields. The old woman with the cradle called 
her back. 

"Messieurs," she said, "will pardon Gabrielle. She is 
very old. ' ' 

FIVE SONS GO TO WAR 

Ten days before the order came for mobilization this old 
woman of the cradle was one of the happiest in Normandy. 
She had five great sons, who lived with her upon the farm that 
had been in her family name since William the Conqueror 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 261 

sailed out of the River Dives for England. They owned horses 
and cattle and sheep, and their granaries were filled. Harvest 
time came, and her sons and their men went at the standing 
grain. 

' ' Then — v'la ! ' ' said she, with a wide gesture. 

The five sons and their men had every one been called to 
the colors. Because their horses were good, they were seized 
by the government. True, they will in time be paid for them, 
but for the present no cash has come in. Without men and 
horses it is difficult to harvest grain. Their cattle and sheep 
were requisitioned by the government. The lesson of the siege 
of 1870 is yet fresh in every French heart. That is why the 
green lawns of Versailles and other palaces owned by the state 
are now being trampled into dust by sharp hoofs. The state 
is providing against what may befall. 

"The state needed our grain, too," said the old woman of 
the cradle. ' ' Our braves must be fed. ' ' 

DESOLATION" IN NORMANDY 

I have just returned from a 500 mile tour by auto and rail 
through Normandy, one of the fairest districts of pleasant 
France. Everywhere I saw the same story. The year's crop 
had been a bumper one, but it will prove almost a total loss. 
Not one-twentieth of it had been put in stack when the mobili- 
zation order stopped the harvest. In every mile of the 500 I 
saw plows standing in the furrow, or empty carts in the field. 
Pathetic little black clumps were scattered through green 
fields. They marked the rotting grain. 

" Is it not sad I ' ' said the peasant soldier who stopped us at 
one of the crossroads in the Breteuil country to look at our 
passports. He spoke with the childlike candor one so often 
finds in the French volunteer. "I must stand upon this road 
with a rifle and stop m'sieu, and all the time my good grain is 
rotting there beneath my eyes. ' ' 

That's the deuce of it. There are enough men guarding 
country roads and forty dollar culverts and sitting about rural 
guardhouses to have saved the harvest. But the plans for 
mobilization did not contemplate such useful activity on the 
part of the soldiery. And so next year France must starve. 
And American eyes completely fail to discover what good these 



262 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

red capped soldiers are accomplishing, guarding cart tracks in 
the interior of France. A German spy couldn't get in there 
unless he were dropped from a balloon. Then he couldn't 
get out. 

DROP WORK FOR WAR 

"We were half through the harvest when the order came," 
said the old women on a station platform near Evreux. 
"M'sieu will understand." 

M'sieu did understand. Almost all of the grain had been 
cut throughout Normandy. As it was cut it was bound in 
sheaves. Two-thirds of the cut grain had been set up in 
shocks, in order that it might dry out and harden. The next 
step was to stack it, that it might be protected from the ele- 
ments until thrashing time came. It was at this moment that 
the order came. Men in France obey that order without hesi- 
tation or demur. 

"But are there not old men and boys and women enough 
in the country to put this grain under cover f " we asked. We 
knew the women of Normandy have always done their part in 
the field. 

' ' Messieurs, ' ' they replied, simply, ' ' the horses ? ' ' 

True enough. In fifty miles of road we saw by actual count 
just ten of the big Norman horses drawing carts on the farms. 
Not another horse was to be seen for that distance. All the 
others had been requisitioned by the government to haul guns 
and caissons and supply wagons. And then the curious life- 
lessness of the landscape began to appall us. Nowhere was 
any living being to be seen. If appearances told the truth, nine 
farm houses out of ten were utterly deserted. 

' ' Why should they not be f " one old woman said. ' ' There 
is nothing left behind but we old ones, messieurs — and the chil- 
dren. And so we gather in the larger houses that we may have 
the comfort of familiar faces." 

LITTLE TO EAT LEFT 

No farmer carries a great supply of foodstuff over from 
the end of the year. Most of these Norman granaries were 
being swept in preparation for the coming crop. What little 
grain was left was taken by the government. We passed one 
great train of wagons, drawn by a steam lorry. Perhaps it 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 263 

was the first of the sort ever seen there, for it was accompanied 
by an open mouthed and gaping crowd of peasants. The 
wagons were laden with grain that had been gathered from 
the country side. There will be little to eat this winter on the 
Norman farms. 

''And next year?" we asked. 

' ' Pouf ! ' ' these brave peasants answered airily. ' ' Soon our 
men will be back, you comprehend. Next spring all will be as 
before. In two — three months our braves will be in Berlin. ' ' 

Perhaps they saw the doubt on our faces, for they followed 
to reassure us. 

"Look you, messieurs," said they, "these Allemands can- 
not stand before the white arm of France — " 

And these white-haired, bent old peasants lunged as though 
with the bayonet. 



LECTURER ARRESTED AS A SPY 

E. M. Newman of Chicago, the noted travel lecturer, was 
arrested and imprisoned as a spy in Berlin during the German 
mobilization. Mr. Newman reached Chicago on September 2, 
having landed at Boston two days previously from the steam- 
ship Franconia. He recounted his experiences as follows : 

"On the night the English declaration of war was an- 
nounced Berlin went stark mad. Every English signboard 
in the city within the crowd's reach was torn down. I wit- 
nessed the demonstrations until 11 o'clock and then went to 
my hotel and to bed. At midnight I was awakened. When 
I opened the door two military officers confronted me and 
informed me that I was arrested as a spy. I had been seen 
making moving pictures for several days and officers sus- 
pected they were for hostile purposes. I protested without 
avail. One of the officers took an unexposed film from the 
dresser and said : 

" 'At least you'll never show this.' 

"The exposed film remained unharmed in my hand bag- 
gage, which was not disturbed, and came home with me. 

"I was taken to the military prison, placed in the hospital 
and held four days. They gave me rye bread, sausage and 
coffee. There was no limit on the amount of rye bread I 
could eat. Half a dozen times I heard volleys in the neigh- 



264 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

boring court yard, signaling the end of some poor victim 
who had been suspected as 1 was. Finally with a bribe of 40 
marks I persuaded the guard to send his wife to the Amer- 
ican embassy with my story. Ambassador Gerard imme- 
diately interceded and my release was promised. The next 
morning I was put on a troop train with a load of horses and 
a few guards, and rode from 8 o'clock until 11 that night. 

"A request that I be permitted to alight for food was met 
with the threat that I would be bayoneted if I set foot out 
of the car. I was unloaded at the Belgian frontier with my 
baggage and ordered to walk to the nearest village. This I 
did, and with some hardships got thence to Paris, London and 
home. My assistant with my best pictures I had sent from 
Berlin several days before. He reached London with all his 
things safe." 

WHAT AN ACTOR SAW IN PAEIS 

W. H. Crane, the American actor, who arrived in London 
August 1 from Paris, had this to say of conditions on the 
continent : 

"I never saw such scenes in my life. The Parisians are 
a demented race ; demented with a hatred of Germany. They 
have resolved to avenge the insults of the last thirty years. 

"The taxicab man who drove me to the station, when I 
asked him whether he was going to fight, vehemently an- 
swered: 'I'd leave everything I possess in the world — wife, 
children, home — and put out for German soil to kill a Ger- 
man. ' 

"I intended to stay over a few days, but last evening Con- 
sul General Thackara telephoned me to leave by the first train, 
as in twenty-four hours more there would be no trains. 

"Ambassador Herrick said to me, when I asked his opinion 
of the situation, 'I think this is the blackest outlook Europe 
has faced in all its history. Civilization is not merely a fail- 
ure, it's a hypocritical show.' 

"The money situation in Paris is far worse than here. 
You can get no change anywhere. If you haven't the exact 
amount of your purchase you won't get it. I went to the Cafe 
de la Paix with my brother, a resident of Paris for fifty years 
and well known at the cafe. He tendered a twenty-franc note 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 205 

in payment for a drink. The waitei ange 

five fra. 
''I 

q those of ] . lay, a.-. \.~- 

a for bulletins. I: 

I . Oh terri te for its suppress] The Pi 

blind ^with war fever and wit:. to get af German 

h : they I ... - did in 1870, none : 

the consequences. . e the 

v. : ll :: . life."* 

Ear William Osier and his brother. Sir E r. a 

ladian Pacini, magnate staying at Bi iwn'i hotel, Lor. 
la five-] 1 bill ] 

said he eon! at -. - ehange. Finally \ - there had 

to borrow a - m the hall portej U - rj 
bilL Tii-re was i ion among An 3, old 

patrons of Lob Etlyh tels. American gold eerttfic 
could only be cashed at a ruinous nut T. con- 

sidered quite unjustifiable, as banks were - ing all the gold 
they Deeded to rs. Many dering five- 

pound notes for tolls had them 

returned across 1 inter on the plea that no change could 

be given. Many were unable to cable their friends at home. 

A 50 '.L SAMAKTTAH A F.F.HS TED 

One of the humors of the sad plight in which Am 
found themselves in Europe was relal Rev. F 

I. Be star of the Tabernacle B hurch, Chi 

"A party of Americans," he sai . in trying I 

from Germany into Switzerlan put off a train six miles 

from the border and ha h ~alk the distance carrying the 
baggage. After they arrived at the station where they « 
to get a train again, one man picked up three suite 

- _ to three different women to he] . them aboard the 
train. Before he succeeded he s put un arrest, and in 
spite of his attempted explanations he was hurried to the 
guardhouse, still in possession of the suitcases. In the m 
time the train pulled out. The women are still hunting for 
their sui: and the man is hunting for the women owner b . ' ' 



26G TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

AMERICAN WOMAN IN THE TRENCHES 

Among* the passengers who walked down the gangplank 
from the steamship Campania, on its arrival at New York in 
September, was a tall, handsome woman dressed entirely in 
black. Her eyes showed that she had undergone some intense 
strain, and her pale, hollow cheeks spoke of suffering. 

At her side, tightly clasping her mother's hand, walked a 
brigh^ -haired girl, 3 years old. 

The woman was Mrs. Anna Gibbs of Berkeley, Cal. Her 
husband, Curtis Gibbs, still in Berkeley, did not know that two 
of his three children had been killed. 

"On the first day of August," she commenced, "I was 
living comfortably in Wirballen, Russia, where I had gone the 
first of June to spend the summer with my brother-in-law. I 
am an American citizen. 

"I awoke a few mornings later to find the town had gone 
wild. Cannon thundered in the distance. Now and then a 
great iron missile would rage through the town, tipping over 
houses and churches. 

1 ' Unfamiliar with the geography of the country as I was, 
I could think of flight only toward the west. I hastily dressed 
my three children — Curtis, 7 years old ; Anna, 4 years old, and 
Martha, 3 years old — and fled from the town. 

" 'My God, woman, what are you doing here?' I heard a 
soldier exclaim. 

"When I told him I was trying to save my children his face 
grew pale. 

" 'You are in the center of the storm,' he said. 'Come 
with me.' 

"He led us to the Russian rifle pits, where the soldiers were 
firing. It was our only chance of safety. All through the day 
we stayed there, afraid to move, and well into the night. 
Curtis had been ill, and I noticed that he grew weaker as the 
hours wore on. Just as dawn broke upon the battlefield he 
passed away. I had to bury him. 

"Just as we reached Vilna, on August 7," she continued, 
"Orlena Anna, my second child, died from exposure. We 
buried her in a little Russian cemetery with nothing but a rude 
cross to mark the grave. " 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 267 

"SEE AMERICA FIRST* ' 

"My advice to Americans expecting to visit Europe is — 
' See America first, ' and learn the Declaration of Independence 
before you go, ' ' said Ralph M. Kaufman, Chicago broker, who 
returned to his home September 12 from Germany, where he 
was arrested as an English spy because he was unable to recite 
a part of the Declaration of Independence. 

"I had been spending my vacation in Munich," said Mr. 
Kaufman. ' ' Shortly before war was declared and right after 
the order for mobilization had gone out I was arrested on the 
outskirts of Munich by a company of German soldiers whom 
I chanced to meet while taking a few snapshots. I told them 
my name and that I was an American. Unfortunately the only 
letter or paper in my pocket was one from a friend in London 
with an English postmark. This convinced them that I was an 
English spy. 

"A young lieutenant stepped out and told the captain that 
if I was an American I could very easily prove it by reciting a 
part of the American Declaration of Independence, which he 
said all Americans undoubtedly knew, as it was even taught 
in German schools. 

"I stammered and my face became flushed. All I could 

think of was 'Four score and seven years ago .' I was 

positive that was the way it started, but I could get no further. 
They locked me up in the Munich prison, where I remained for 
two days, until the American consul proved my identity. Even 
then the young lieutenant seemed doubtful. ' ' 

Mr. Kaufman added that he considered the test a just one 
and advised Americans to spend more time getting acquainted 
with their own country and less visiting Europe. 

DETROIT ARTISTES NARROW ESCAPE 

Lawrence Stern Stevens, an artist of Detroit, narrowly 
escaped death near Aix-la-Chapelle at the hands of a crazed 
German lieutenant, by whom he was suspected of being a spy. 

Stevens left Brussels on Aug. 24 in an automobile. He 
was accompanied by a photographer and a Belgian newspaper 
correspondent, and his intention had been to make sketches on 
the battlefield. His arrest at Laneffe thwarted this plan. He 



268 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

underwent a terrifying ordeal at the hands of his demented 
captor, although he was not actually injured. 

On the evening of Aug. 24 he was court-martialed and sen- 
tenced to death and held in close confinement over night. 
Early on the morning of Aug. 25 he was led out, as he sup- 
posed, to be shot, but the plans had been changed and instead 
he was taken before Gen. von Arnim. After being forced to 
march with German troops for two days, Stevens fell in with 
a party of American correspondents at Beaumont, from which 
point he traveled to Aix-la-Chapelle on a prison train, and 
eventually reached Rotterdam and safety 

A GERMAN STEAMSHIP 's ESCAPE 

A typical example of war's interference with transporta- 
tion and commerce is found in the case of the North German 
Lloyd steamer Kronprinzessin Cecilie, which sailed from New 
York for Plymouth, Cherbourg, and Bremen on Tuesday, 
July 28, and returned to Bar Harbor, Maine, one week later, 
after having been reported captured by British warships in 
the English Channel. For several days her whereabouts had 
been a mystery, but she dropped anchor at Bar Harbor on the 
morning of August 4, after a forced run of four days, her 
officers fearing capture. 

With a cargo of $10,000,000 in gold and $3,000,000 in silver, 
consigned to French and English bankers, and with an esti- 
mated value of over $5,000,000 in herself, the Kronprinzessin 
Cecilie constituted probably the finest sea prize ever open to 
capture. 

At one time capture seemed imminent. Capt. Charles 
Polack reported that he had intercepted a wireless message 
from one French vessel to another giving warning of the 
Cecilie 's proximity, but under the protection of a providential 
fog the Lloyd liner escaped. 

She had 350 first class, 130 second class and 736 steerage 
passengers. About a third of the first class were Germans, 
who sailed to anticipate the war crisis, whose sudden precipi- 
tation drove them back to America. Most of the rest were 
Americans. 

On Friday night the captain called the men into the smok- 
ing room. 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 269 

"Gentlemen," he said, "war has been declared between 
England, France, Germany and Austria ; we are going back to 
America. We have enough coal for our return and it is my 
earnest hope that we shall not be intercepted by foreign war 
vessels." 

A group of financiers on board offered to buy the ship and 
sail her under American colors. But to all proposals the cap- 
tain replied that his duty was dictated by his orders from 
Bremen, which instructed him to turn back and save his ship. 

For two nights, with her head and side lights extinguished 
and every other illumination blotted out with canvas, the Kron- 
prinzessin Cecelie plunged through the fog with unreduced 
speed and without sounding her foghorn. 

When the vessel steamed safely into Bar Harbor, Captain 
Polack received a long line of passengers, who congratulated 
him on his achievement. He is a lieutenant-commander in the 
German naval reserves. 

Guarded by forty express messengers and detectives, the 
treasure with which the steamer put into Bar Harbor arrived 
in New York August 10 by train. The money was taken to the 
subtreasury to be held for New York bankers by whom it was 
to have been sent to Paris and London. 

A YOUNG CANADIAN 's EXPERIENCE 

A young Canadian who was in Germany when the war 
broke out relates how he escaped through the mistake of a 
German official. When a demand was made for his papers he 
presented a Canadian passport. The official looked it over, 
hesitated a moment, then said : "Canada? Let me see ; that's 
in America, isn't it?" The Canadian assured him it was. 
"Well, that's all right," he said, and made him out a permit 
as a citizen of the United States. The youth from the Domin- 
ion, now safe at home, sends his grateful greetings to Uncle 
Sam. 

SUSPECTED OF BEING A SPY 

James A. Patten, the Chicago "wheat king," was touring 
Germany with his wife when war came. They came home in the 
steerage of a steamer. Mr. Patten declared he would not have 
remained in Europe if he had to sacrifice half his fortune. For 



270 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

a while he was under arrest, the Germans suspecting that he 
was a spy. 

CHAUNCEY DEPEW ON A RUNNING-BOARD 

Chauncey M. Depew, former United States Senator for 
New York, was in Geneva when the trouble began. He said on 
his return : * 'After crossing the border into France we picked 
up men joining the colors on the way to Paris, until our train 
could hold no more. 

1 'Whenever I stuck my head into a corridor the soldiers 
would set up a cheer on seeing my side whiskers. They mis- 
took me for an Englishman and cried: 'Long live the entente 
cordiale!" 

"We stayed in Paris a week and then left for Boulogne. 
We were obliged to crowd into a coach as best we could. I sat 
on the running-board all the way. ' ' 

JENNIE DUFAU *S NARROW ESCAPE 

Jennie Dufau, the American opera singer, had one of the 
most thrilling experiences told by a refugee from the war zone. 

Miss Dufau was visiting in Saulxures, Province of Alsace, 
when the war started, and was in the hitherto peaceful valley 
of that region until August 24. She was with her sister, Eliza- 
beth, and her two brothers, Paul and Daniel. 

On August 6 the German artillery occupied the heights on 
one side of the valley, overlooking the town. On the 12th the 
Germans occupied the town itself. At that time there were 
but two French regiments near Saulxures. 

The French, however, opened fire on the Germans, and Miss 
Dufau with her father and sister at once retreated to the cellar 
in an effort to escape the flying shells. 

"Then began a tremendous artillery duel that lasted for 
days," she said. "All this time we were living in the cellar, 
where we were caring for ten wounded French officers. I often 
went out over the battlefield when the fire slackened and did 
what I could for the wounded and dying. 

"We improvised stretchers from gunnysacks stretched 
between poles and carried away as many of the wounded as we 
could shelter. 

"My brothers Paul and Daniel were drafted into the Ger- 
man army. They had sworn an oath not to fire a shot at a 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 271 

Frenchman, and their greatest hope was that they would be 
captured and permitted to put on the French uniform. 

" Between August 12 and 24 the artillery duel raged, and 
finally the opposing armies came to a hand-to-hand fight with 
the bayonet. First it was the Germans who occupied the town, 
then the French. The Germans finally came to our house and 
accused my sister, my father, and myself of being spies because 
they found a telephone there. The soldiers lined us up against 
the wall to shoot us, but we fell on our knees and begged them 
to spare the life of our father. They gave no heed till a Ger- 
man colonel came along and, after questioning us, ordered that 
we be set free." 

HOMECOMING HARDSHIPS AT SEA 

How homecoming Americans adapted themselves to hard- 
ships and made the best of poor accommodations and poor food 
on an immigrant ship were graphically described by Mrs. R. 
W. A , who returned from Europe in September. 

She sailed from Naples with 700 other stranded Americans. 
The ship had been used to carry immigrants to South America. 
The crew was Italian and the boat had never sailed to the 
United States before. They were sixteen days at sea, 

"Our ship, the San Giovanni, was an immigrant ship and 

it was perfectly frightful," said Mrs. A . "The ship had 

been fumigated and the old bedding burned and staterooms 
were made with canvas partitions. Our staterooms were two 
decks below the main deck and next to the hold. The portholes 
could never be opened. The cooks were poor and the waiters 
inexperienced. 

1 ' There were no steamer chairs on the boat and before we 
left we bought chairs or boxes for seats. Practically every- 
body slept on the decks until about 2 o'clock in the morning, 
when they became so cold they were forced to go below. 

"Everybody was practically penniless, although all had 
travelers ' checks which they could not cash abroad. Before we 
sailed we had to guarantee to pay for our passage in gold 
before we landed in New York. Arrangements were made in 
New York to send a boat with the gold to meet us outside the 
harbor. The captain stood out at sea until he received a wire- 
less message that the gold was ready. 



272 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

1 1 There was no parlor on the ship. Despite the many incon- 
veniences, we provided our own entertainment. There was a 
piano and we lashed it to a mast and every afternoon we had 
an entertainment. ' ' 



THAT TORRENT OF GERMAN TROOPS — THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF A 
NEUTRAL EYEWITNESS 

A thrilling description of the scenes attending the dogged 
advance of the German army from Brussels toward Paris 
was given by a neutral eyewitness, Mr. V. Siosteen, a spe- 
cial correspondent of the New York Tribune and London 
Standard, who wrote from Boulogne September 5th as 
follows : 

"I have seen and marveled at the torrent of human fight- 
ing machines which Germany has poured into this unhappy 
country. I have watched that most wonderful sight, the 
German army on march. I have witnessed the still more 
remarkable spectacle, the German troops going into action. 

"For, equipped with my credentials as a citizen of a neu- 
tral country, I have been able to move with comparative free- 
dom in the southern regions of Belgium and the northern 
provinces of France. 

"It was after the occupation of Brussels and the still 
later fighting at Mons that I found myself resting in a French 
village through which the German invaders were passing. 
The retreating French had torn up the railways, and, while 
German engineers were repairing them with all possible 
speed, troops marched along the high roads, carrying their 
impedimenta with them. 

1 ' The hum of a motor high up in the air was the first in- 
timation of their approach. The villagers rushed out and 
gazed skyward. A Taube aeroplane was hovering above us 
at no very great distance, and soon we saw others. It was 
quite evident that they were spying out the land thoroughly, 
looking for possible dangers to the advancing hosts and trans- 
mitting information to the marching Germans. While we 
watched, one Taube machine crumpled up and fell headlong 
to the ground. Both its occupants were pitched out in mid-air 
and dropped a sheer 500 feet to death. But how utterly in- 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 273 

significant that tragic incident seemed. Two German airmen 
dead! Two German families flung into mourning! But the 
German hosts marched on, and the destruction of these hu- 
man atoms of a mighty whole was of no military consequence. 

MAKCHED EIGHT ABKEAST AT AMAZING PACE 

"Round a bend of the road came the vanguard, consist- 
ing of a big contingent of military cyclists, with rifles swung 
over their shoulders. Knowing the way was clear for them, 
they rode right through the village at a slow pace. Close 
behind came a regiment of cavalry, then field artillery. The 
horses were almost worn out and the drivers thrashed them 
until they maintained the pace that suited the requirements 
of a forced march. More cavalry and corps of various de- 
scriptions followed, and then the infantry. 

"The road was wide, and they marched eight abreast. 
There seemed no end of them. Such typical German faces 
and figures! These men were short, rather than tall, but 
stalwart in form and with round heads and closely cropped 
hair. Their gray green uniforms were covered with dust. 
The rate of march was more than four miles an hour ; prob- 
ably a mile in thirteen minutes. Considering the weight of 
equipment, to which must be added the rifle, this speed is 
amazing, but it was clear their physical strength was being 
taxed to the uttermost. 

"Some corps were singing sentimental German volks- 
lieder. But many men were staggering along, barely able 
to hold their places in the ranks. 

"There is no room in the German army for weaklings. 
They receive scant mercy from comrades or superiors. The 
non-commissioned officers are relentlessly stern in the main- 
tenance of march discipline. They passed along the lines, 
cursing the lagging with a vigorous brutality that seemed to 
overawe them. 

"I saw a young soldier, who looked like a youth of twenty, 
receive several severe blows from a non-commissioned offi- 
cer because fatigue caused him to fall a little behind his rank 
and thus disarrange the marching machine. Other men who 
dropped by the wayside were prodded with bayonets until 
pain goaded them to fresh efforts. One private, accused of 



274 TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 

simulating exhaustion, was kicked by a non-commissioned 
officer with heavy boots until he rose to his feet and went on 
marching. Complete exhaustion and utter despair were writ- 
ten on some of the faces, but not on the majority of them. The 
bulk of the troops, it must be recorded, seemed to stand the 
test of endurance successfully, thanks to perfect training in 
the times of peace. 

"There seemed no community of fellowship between the 
officers and men. Communication between them appeared to 
be conducted by the non-commissioned officers, who play a 
most important part in the German army. Some of the offi- 
cers who passed witnessed the chastisement by the non-com- 
missioned men of exhausted soldiers and took no notice of 
their drastic methods of maintaining march discipline. Evi- 
dently it is accepted as a natural necessity. 

1 ' The equipment of the German army is wonderfully com- 
plete. Huge motor lorries stretched for miles and miles and 
came along after the troops at a speed of nearly twenty miles 
an hour. Guns, ammunition, Maxims and general stores on 
big automobiles, field kitchens, traveling pharmacies, field 
telephones and telegraph lines, portable wireless apparatus, 
nothing was missing. 

FRENCH PEASANTRY AWE-STRICKEN 

"It was a scientifically and systematically equipped army 
which moved southward toward Paris. The number of Ger- 
man troops was a never ending source of awe and terror to 
the French peasantry. 'What chance have we of stemming 
this tide of armies f ' they asked in despair. 

"The Germans filled the roads and overflowed into the 
fields. When thousands had gone by, more thousands ap- 
proached, and continued to march to the front; and when 
these thousands disappeared to the south more tens of thou- 
sands arrived from the rear, and went on marching to the 
front. It was an endless swarm of human ants. 

"A day later chance made me the spectator of an engage- 
ment between the French and German troops. 

"The French were strongly intrenched, and the French 
artillery occupied a favorable position under cover, but in a 
good line of attack. The Germans advanced. The French 




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TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 275 

artillery found the range and shelled them. I saw the gray- 
green figures dropping like ninepins bowled over by some 
unseen thrower. But more gray-green figures emerged from 
the rear, and the advance continued. 

"The Germans went forward at the double quick. The 
French artillery continued destructive fire, but the onward 
rush was too rapid for any such means to stop it. The French 
infantry poured volley after volley into the German ranks. 

"The Germans were advancing with about one yard dis- 
tance between men of the front line, but the Germans of the 
second line were immediately behind those of the first, so that 
as the foremost were shot down the men of the second line 
were there in their right position and able to push forward. 
The Germans of the third line were exactly behind those of 
the second, so that when the soldiers of the second line were 
shot down, those of the third took their place. So they ad- 
vanced, line after line, always in close formation, both from 
right to left and from van to rear. 

"The slaughter was truly terrible. Countless gray-green 
figures fell and lay prostrate, while their comrades rushed 
onwards to the same relentless fate. But the French simply 
could not shoot them dead with sufficient rapidity to stem 
the onslaught. The Germans succeeded in advancing, and 
the French withdrew to avoid being overwhelmed by the 
Teutonic hordes. 

"The Germans achieve wonderful results by these meth- 
ods of fighting. I am inclined to think it is not so much their 
courage as the discipline which enables them to court death 
by these antiquated tactics. They fight almost automatically 
and advance with machine-like precision, so thorough is 
their training. 

"It is not strategy, nor skill in handling weapons, not in- 
dividual fighting qualities that have achieved the advance to 
Paris. It is the efficiency of the whole German military 
system. ' ' 



WAR COST TO KILL A MAN. 

What does it cost to kill a man in war? Probably $25,000 
in the present conflict. The cost of killing one soldier is ob- 



276 



TYPICAL EXPERIENCES 



tained by dividing the cost of a war to any of the belligerents 
by the number of men killed on the other side. 

In the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 the cost of killing 
each man was $21,000. But the cost of every material of war- 
fare has advanced substantially since then. It is safe to esti- 
mate — unless the terrific destruction of machine guns upsets 
precedent — that to bring about a soldier's death will cause an 
expenditure of $25,000 on the other side. 

France spent $400,000,000 in actual expense of that war 
and $200,000,000 in repairing materials, giving help to father- 
less families, and other uses. The German dead numbered 
28,600. For every one of them France spent approximately 
$21,000. 

The figures of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 give an 
average of $15,000 for every one killed. 

It cost Russia $1,200,000,000 to kill 58,600 Japanese in the 
war of 1905, making the cost of the individual slaying $20,400. 



THE SPY. 




-Bradley in Chicago Daily News. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
ATTITUDE OF THE UNITED STATES 

President Wilson's Plea for Calm and Impartial Behavior of 
Citizens — Proclamation of Neutrality — Early Offer of 
Mediation — Reception of the Belgian Commission — 
The National Day of Prayer for Peace. 

ON August 3 President Wilson, speaking to the press 
correspondents at the White House, made a strong plea 
that the people of the United States remain calm and 
self-possessed in the face of the European war crisis. 

"It is extremely necessary, it is manifestly necessary in 
the present state of affairs on the other side of the water," 
he said, ' ' that you should be extremely careful not to add in 
any way to the excitement. Of course the European world 
is in a highly excited state of mind, but the excitement ought 
not to spread to the United States. 

"So far as we are concerned this crisis is no cause for 
excitement. There is great inconvenience for the time being 
in the money market, and in our exchanges, and temporarily, 
in the handling of our crops, but America is absolutely pre- 
pared to meet the financial situation and to straighten every- 
thing out without any material difficulty. The only thing that 
can possibly prevent it is unreasonable apprehension and 
excitement. 

"If I might make a suggestion to you, gentlemen, there- 
fore, I would urge you not to give currency to any unverified 
rumor or to anything that would tend to create or add to 
excitement. 

"The situation in Europe is perhaps the gravest in its 
possibilities that has arisen in modern times, but it need not 
affect the United States unfavorably in the long run. Not 

277 



•278 ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 

that the United States has anything to take advantage of, 
but its own position is sound and it owes it to mankind to 
remain in such a condition and in such a state of mind that it 
can help the rest of the world. 

''I want to have the pride of feeling that America stands 
ready with calmness of thought and steadiness of purpose 
to help the rest of the world. And we can do it and reap a 
great permanent glory out of doing it, provided we all co- 
operate to see that nobody loses his head. 

"I know from my conferences with the secretary of the 
treasury, who is in close touch with the financial situation 
throughout the country, that there is no cause for alarm. ' ' 

PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY 

The proclamation of neutrality toward the warring Euro- 
pean nations, issued on the same day by President Wilson, 
embodied the provisions of the Hague convention of 1907 
concerning the rights and duties of neutral powers in naval 
war. 

Much of the language of the document concerning the 
nonpartisan conduct imposed on American citizens was the 
same as that employed in previous proclamations of this 
character, notably that issued by President Grant during the 
Franco-Prassian war. 

In addition the proclamation incorporated the principles 
of international law formulated in the Hague convention. 
This convention was ratified by the United States, Germany, 
Austria, Russia and Sweden, but not by Great Britain and 
France. 

The provisions of the Hague convention incorporated in 
the proclamation related to the prohibition of the use of 
waters of the United States by belligerent vessels, the rules 
governing the entrance of and withdrawal from neutral ports 
by the belligerents, and similar matters. 

Part of the actual text of the proclamation was as follows : 
By the President of the United States of America— A Proc- 
lamation: 

"Whereas a state of war unhappily exists between Aus- 
tria-Hungary and Servia and between Germany and Russia 
and between Germany and France; and whereas the United 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 279 

States is on terms of friendship and amity with the contend- 
ing powers and with the persons inhabiting their several 
dominions ; 

"And whereas the laws and treaties of the United States, 
without interfering with the free expression of opinion and 
sympathy or with the commercial manufacture or sale of 
arms or munitions of war, nevertheless impose upon all per- 
sons who may be within their territory and jurisdiction the 
duty of an impartial neutrality during the existence of the 
contest; 

"And whereas it is the duty of a neutral government not 
to permit or suffer the making of its waters subservient to 
the purposes of war; 

"Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, president of the 
United States of America, in order to preserve the neutrality 
of the United States and of its citizens and of persons within 
its territory and jurisdiction, and to enforce its laws and 
treaties, and in order that all persons, being warned of the 
general tenor of the laws and treaties of the United States 
in this behalf, and of the law of nations, may thus be pre- 
vented from any violation of the same, do hereby declare 
and proclaim that by certain provisions of the act approved 
on the 4th day of March, A. D. 1909, commonly known as the 
penal code of the United States, the following acts are forbid- 
den to be done, under severe penalties, within the territory 
and jurisdiction of the United States, to- wit: 

[Here followed a list of the acts prohibited, as referred to 
above.] 

"And I do hereby further declare and proclaim that any 
frequenting and use of the waters within the territorial juris- 
diction of the United States by the armed vessels of a bellig- 
erent, whether public ships or privateers, for the purpose of 
preparing for hostile operations, or as posts of observation 
upon the ships of war, or privateers, or merchant vessels of 
a belligerent lying within or being about to enter the juris- 
diction of the United States must be regarded as unfriendly 
and offensive and in violation of that neutrality which it is 
the determination of this government to observe. 



280 ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 

UKGES CITIZENS TO BE IMPARTIAL 

' 'And I do further declare and proclaim that the statutes 
and the treaties of the United States and the law of nations 
alike require that no person within the territory and juris- 
diction of the United States shall take part, directly or in- 
directly, in the said wars, but shall remain at peace with all 
of the said belligerents, and shall maintain a strict and im- 
partial neutrality. 

"And I do hereby warn all citizens of the United States, 
and all persons residing or being within its territory or juris- 
diction that, while the free and full expression of sympathy 
in public and private is not restricted by the laws of the United 
States, military forces in aid of a belligerent cannot lawfully 
be originated or organized within its jurisdiction. 

"And I do hereby give notice that all citizens of the United 
States and others who may claim the protection of this gov- 
ernment, who may misconduct themselves in the premises, 
will do so at their peril, and that they can in no wise obtain 
any protection from the government of the United States 
against the consequences of their misconduct. 

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed." 

(Signed) Woodrow Wilson. 

OFFER OF MEDIATION 

On August 5 President Wilson offered his good offices to 
all the European powers involved in the war. He sent the 
following message to Emperor William, Emperor Nicholas, 
Emperor Francis-Joseph, President Poincare and King 
George : 

"As official head of one of the powers signatory to the 
Hague convention, I feel it to be my privilege and my duty 
under article 3 of that convention to say to you in a spirit of 
most earnest friendship that I should welcome an opportunity 
to act in the interest of European peace, either now or any 
other time that might be thought more suitable, as an occa- 
sion to serve you and all concerned in a way that would 
afford me lasting cause for gratitude and happiness." — 
Woodrow Wilson. 

This offer of mediatory services was courteously acknowl- 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 281 

edged by all the powers to whom it was addressed, but none 
expressed any desire to take advantage of it at that stage 
of the hostilities. 

A REMARKABLE APPEAL 

On August 18 President Wilson issued one of the most re- 
markable appeals ever addressed to the people of the United 
States, using the following language : 

"My Fellow Countrymen: 

"I suppose that every thoughtful man in America has 
asked himself during the last troubled week what influence 
the European war may exert upon the United States, and I 
take the liberty of addressing a few words to you in order 
to point out that it is entirely within our own choice what 
its effects upon us will be and to urge very earnestly upon 
you the sort of speech and conduct which will best safeguard 
the nation against distress and disaster. 

"The effect of the war upon the United States will depend 
upon what American citizens say and do. Every man who 
really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of 
neutrality which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness and 
friendliness to all concerned. 

RESTS WITH PEOPLE ALONE 

1 1 The spirit of the nation in this critical matter will be de- 
termined largely by what individuals and society and those 
gathered in public meetings do and say, upon what news- 
papers and magazines contain, upon what our ministers utter 
in their pulpits and men proclaim as their opinions on the 
streets. 

"The people of the United States are drawn from many 
nations and chiefly from the nations now at war. It is natural 
and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of 
sympathy and desire among them with regard to the issues 
and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish one nation, 
others another, to succeed in the momentous struggle. 

PASSION" EASY TO EXCITE 

"It will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. 
Those responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy respon- 
sibility ; responsibility for no less a thing than that the people 
of the United States, whose love of their country, and whose 



282 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 



loyalty to its government, should unite them as Americans, all 
bound in honor and affection to think first of her and her 
interests, may be divided in camps of hostile opinions, not 
against each other ; involved in the war itself in impulse and 
opinion, if not in action. Such diversions among us would 




There is always one place where the sun shines. 

— Cleveland Plain JUealer 

be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in 
the way of the proper performance of our duty as the one 
great nation at peace ; the one people holding itself ready to 
play a part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels 
of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a 
friend 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 283 

NEUTRALITY AN IMPORTANT DUTY 

"I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a 
solemn word of warning to you against that deepest, most 
subtle, most essential breach of neutrality which may spring 
out of partisanship, out of passionately taking sides. The 
United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name 
during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be 
impartial in thought as well as in action, must put a curb 
upon our sentiments as well as upon every transaction that 
might be construed as a preference of one party to the strug- 
gle before another. 

"My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, 
the earnest wish and purpose of every thoughtful American 
that this great country of ours, which is, of course, the first 
in our thoughts and in our hearts, should show herself in 
this time of peculiar trial a nation fit beyond others to exhibit 
the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of self- 
control, the efficiency of dispassionate action; a nation that 
neither sits in judgment upon others, nor is disturbed in her 
own counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what 
is honest and disinterested and truly serviceable for the peace 
of the world. 

"Shall we not resolve to put upon ourselves the restraint 
which will bring to our people the happiness and the great 
lasting influence for peace we covet for them?" 

MANY MESSAGES PROMPTED THE NOTE 

Prior to the issuance of the above statement officials close 
to the president made it clear that Mr. Wilson was fully de- 
termined to take no part in the dispute between Japan and 
Germany over the situation in the far east. While the Ger- 
man-Japan question was not referred to in the statement, it 
became known that the president regarded with disfavor 
efforts he believed were being made to embroil the United 
States in the controversy in the far east or in Europe. 

The president was led to make his statement to the coun- 
try by reason of many communications which had been re- 
ceived from organizations throughout the country, com- 
posed of former citizens of the countries engaged in the Eu- 
ropean conflict. These communications had invariably been 



284 ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 

couched in respectful language and with no intent to offend 
in any way, but the general tenor of all of them indicated 
to officials at Washington a growing tendency to incite debate 
and, therefore, unrest among the people as a whole. 

The president was known to feel that a neutral nation and 
its officials should remain neutral in thought as well as in 
action, and for that reason his statement fully set forth his 
own views on the subject. 

FURTHER EFFORTS FOR PEACE 

Early in September further efforts to bring about peace 
in Europe were inaugurated in New York and Washington. 
These had the careful and sympathetic attention and aid of 
President Wilson and Secretary of State Bryan, but came to 
naught in view of the determined attitude of the belligerents. 
Great Britain, France and Russia formally agreed that neither 
of them would make peace without the consent of all, and the 
efforts of the American peacemakers were necessarily aban- 
doned for the time. 

THE BELGIAN COMMISSION" 

On Friday, September 11, a Belgian royal commission, 
appointed by King Albert, landed in New York to lay before 
the Government of the United States formal charges of atroci- 
ties alleged to have been committed by the Germans during 
their campaign in Belgium. The members of the commission 
were as follows : M. Henri Carton de Wiart, minister of jus- 
tice, chairman; MM. Paul Hymans, Louis de Sadeleer and 
Emil Vandervelde, ministers of state ; Count Louis de Lichter- 
velde, secretary. 

The commission was received by the President at the White 
House on Wednesday, September 16, when a copy of the Bel- 
gian charges was formally handed to him. In his reply to the 
commission, President Wilson expressed his deep sense of 
the honor done him by Belgium in turning to him for an impar- 
tial judgment as the representative of a people truly disinter- 
ested in the war. Presently, he said, the war would be over 
and the day of accounting would then come. He made it plain 
that the United States could not pass judgment on, or take 
part in, any controversies between the countries at war. Set- 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 285 

tlement of such matters must, he said, await the termination 
of the war, which he prayed God might be very soon. 

In similar terms the President replied to communications 
from Emperor William of Germany and President Poincare 
of France, who had each written him, alleging the use of dum- 
dum bullets by the enemy. Courteously, but positively, he 
declined to act as judge or arbiter of the matters in contro- 
versy as long as the war was still in progress. 

MONEY FOE EED CROSS AND RELIEF 

Large amounts were subscribed in the United States and 
Canada for the furtherance of Red Cross work among the 
armies in the field ; also for hospitals and the relief of widows 
and orphans of the dead, and of others made destitute by the 
war. Americans of all nationalities freely contributed to these 
causes, through their national and local organizations and 
individual effort. 

In New York a steamship formerly flying the German flag 
was purchased by the American Red Cross and sent across the 
Atlantic with a cargo of surgical and hospital supplies. Under 
command of Captain Armisted Rust, U. S. N., retired, the 
vessel was rechristened the Red Cross and reached Falmouth, 
England, on her errand of mercy in the third week of Septem- 
ber. With her went thirty surgeons and 120 nurses for duty 
in France, Belgium, Germany and Russia. 

In professional command of the expedition was Major 
Robert Hugh Patterson of the Medical Corps, U. S. Army, 
while the chief supervision of the nurses was trusted to Miss 
Helen Scott Hay, ex-superintendent of the Illinois Training 
School for Nurses. 



A DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE 

On September 8 President Wilson signed a proclamation 
calling on the people of the United States to pray for peace in 
Europe. Sunday, Oct. 4, was set aside as a day of prayer. The 
proclamation was as follows : 

"By the President of the United States of America, a 
proclamation : 

"Whereas, great nations of the world have taken up arms 
against one another and war now draws millions of men into 



286 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 




—Chicago Herald, Oct. 4, 1914. 



ATTITUDE OF THE V. S. 287 

battle whom the counsels of statesmen have not been able to 
save from the terrible sacrifice ; and 

"Whereas, in this as in all things, it is our privilege and 
duty to seek counsel and succor of Almighty God, humbling 
ourselves before Him, confessing our weakness and our lack of 
any wisdom equal to these things ; and 

"Whereas, it is the especial wish and longing of the people 
of the United States, in prayer and counsel and all friendli- 
ness, to serve the cause of peace ; 

"Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United 
States of America, do designate Sunday, the 4th day of Octo- 
ber next, a day of prayer and supplication, and do request all 
God-fearing persons to repair on that day to their places of 
worship, there to unite their petitions to Almighty God, that, 
overruling the counsel of men, setting straight the things they 
cannot govern or alter, taking pity on the nations now in the 
throes of conflict, in His mercy and goodness showing a way 
where men can see none, He vouchsafe His children healing 
peace again and restore once more that concord among men 
and nations without which there can be neither happiness nor 
true friendship nor any wholesome fruit of toil or thought in 
the world ; praying also to this end that He forgive us our sins, 
our ignorance of His holy will, our willfulness and many 
errors, and lead us in the paths of obedience to places of vision 
and to thoughts and counsels that purge and make wise. 

"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

"Done at the City of Washington this 8th day of Septem- 
ber, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and 
Fourteen and of the Independence of the United States of 
America the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth. 

"(Signed) Woodrow Wilson, 
' - By the President, 

; ' William Jennings Bryan, 

1 ' Secretary of State. ' ' 

This proclamation made a deep impression upon all the 
people of the United States and was not without effect in 
Europe. Its tone of deep piety and intense human sympathy 
characterized it as one of the most remarkable state papers 



288 



ATTITUDE OF THE U. S. 



that ever emanated from the White House. The churches 
throughout the country were largely attended on the day 
designated. In most of them the President 's proclamation was 
read and special prayers for peace were offered. 

In the larger cities of the United States devotional mass 
meetings were held and attended by all classes of the popula- 
tion. A typical meeting was that held in the city of Chicago, 
presided over by Bishop Samuel Fallows. The great Audi- 
torium proved altogether inadequate to accommodate the 
outpouring of citizens of all nationalities and an overflow meet- 
ing of 10,000 people was held simultaneously in Grant Park 
on the shore of Lake Michigan, beneath the statue of a great 
soldier of the Civil War, General John A. Logan, who like 
General Sherman, realized the horror of war. 



PALACE OF PEACE 
HAGUE 

A . CAtlNEG I £ . J ANITOR 




BUSINESS IS VERRA DULL THE NOO'" 

— The Sun (.Vancouver. B. C.)- 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

Movements of British Battleships Veiled in Secrecy — German 
Dreadnoughts in North Sea and Baltic Ports — Activity 
of Smaller Craft — English Keep Trade Routes Open — 
Several Minor Battles at Sea. 

SHORTLY before war was declared a great review of the 
British navy was held at Spithead, on the English Channel, 

when several hundred vessels were gathered in mighty 
array for inspection by King George and the lords of the 
Admiralty. The salutes they fired had hardly ceased to rever- 
berate along the shores of the Channel when the momentous 
struggle was on. It found the British fleet fully mobilized 
and ready for action. The ships had their magazines filled, 
their bunkers and oil tanks charged, their victualing com- 
pleted, and last, but not least, their full crews aboard. 

Then, without a moment's delay, they disappeared, under 
orders to proceed to stations in the North Sea, to cruise in 
the Channel, the Atlantic or the Mediterranean ; to keep trade 
routes open for British and neutral ships and capture or 
destroy the ships of the enemy. Silently and swiftly they 
sailed, and for weeks the world knew little or nothing of their 
movements or whereabouts. 

Mystery equally deep shrouded the German fleet. In all 
probability it lay under the guns of the coast cities and forts 
of Germany, but nothing definite was permitted to leak out. 
The test of the two great navies, the supreme test of dread- 
noughts and superdreadnoughts, failed to materialize, and for 
weeks the people of Great Britain and Germany could only 
wonder what had become of their naval forces and why they 
did not come into contact with each other. A few minor 
engagements in the North Sea, in which light cruisers and 

289 



290 MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

torpedo-boat destroyers were concerned, served only to deepen 
the mystery. 

Only naval men and well-informed civilians realized that 
Germany was biding her time, waiting to choose her own honr 
for action, realizing the strength of the opposing force and 
determined not to risk her own ships until the opportune 
moment should arrive which would offer the best possible 
chances for success. And meanwhile the main British fleet lay 
in the North Sea, waiting for the enemy to appear. 

After awhile letters began to come from the North Sea, 
telling of the life aboard the vessels lying in wait, scouting or 
patrolling the coasts. The ships were all stripped for action ; 
all inflammable ornaments and fittings had been left behind 
or cast overboard; stripped and naked the fighting machines 
went to their task. All day long the men were ready at their 
guns, and during the night each gun crew slept around the 
weapon that it was their duty to serve, ready to repel any 
destroyers or submarines coining out of the surrounding dark- 
ness to attack them. 

Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe had assumed supreme com- 
mand of the British home fleet on August 4, with the rank 
of admiral. His chief of staff was Rear Admiral Charles E. 
Madden. Rear Admiral Sir George Callaghan was in com- 
mand of the North Sea fleet. 

AN ADMIRALTY ANNOUNCEMENT 

On Thursday, September 10, the secretary of the British 
Admiralty made the following announcement: ''Yesterday 
and today strong and numerous squadrons and flotillas have 
made a complete sweep of the North Sea up to and into the 
Heligoland Bight. The German fleet made no attempt to inter- 
fere with our movements and no German ship of any kind was 
seen at sea." 

That much patience had to be exercised by the seamen of 
the North Sea fleet is evidenced by a letter in which the writer 
said to his family, ' ' If you want to get away from the excite- 
ment of war, you should be here with me." This situation, of 
course, might be changed at a moment's notice. The London 
Times said in September : "It is not to be wondered at if our 
seamen today envy a little the old-time sailors who did not 
have to compete with such things as mines, destroyers and 



MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 291 

submarines. In the accounts of the old blockades we read how 
by means of music and dancing, and even theatrical entertain- 
ments, the monotonous nature of the work was counteracted, 
and the officers of the ships, including Nelson and other great 
commanders, welcomed these diversions for the prevention of 
the evils which might be bred by enforced idleness. It is a 
true saying that everything that stagnates corrupts. There 
is no possible chance of the crews of our modern vessels stag- 
nating under the new conditions of war. "Whether engaged in 
blockading in the big ships, scouting in the cruisers, or patrol- 
ling the coasts in the destroyers, the life is described as tre- 
mendously interesting and exciting. There has been no sense 
of monotony whatever. Indeed, the conditions are such that, 
were it not obligatory for portions of every crew to take rest, 
all of them would be continually on the alert. "We may be cer- 
tain that arrangements have been made for ensuring that the 
crews obtain periods of relaxation from the constant strain ; 
but the only real change comes in the big ships when they have 
of necessitv to refill their bunkers.' ' 



LOSS OF THE CRUISER AMPHION 

The cruiser Amphion was the first British war vessel 
lost in the war. The survivors on landing at the North Sea 
port of Harwich, England, on August 10, stated that hardly 
had they left Harwich than they were ordered to clear the 
decks for action. They sighted the German mine-laying ves- 
sel Koenigin Luise, and, as it refused to stop even when 
a shot was fired across its bows, they gave chase. 

The German ship fired and then the destroyers, accom- 
panying the Amphion, surrounded and sank it after a brief 
combined bombardment. 

The captain, it is said, was beside himself with fury. He 
had a revolver in his hand and threatened his men as they 
prepared to surrender to the rescuing ships. He flatly refused 
to give himself up and was taken by force. 

When the smoke of a big ship was seen on the horizon 
the Amphion gave chase, firing a warning shot as it drew 
near the vessel, which at once made known its identity as 
the Harwich boat St. Petersburg, carrying Prince Lichnow- 
skv, the German ambassador, to the Hook of Holland. 



292 MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

While returning to port came the tragedy of the Amphion. 
As it struck a sunken mine it gave two plunging jerks. Then 
came an explosion which ripped up its forepart, shot up its 
funnels like arrows from a bow, and lifted its heavy guns 
into the air. The falling material struck several of the boats 
of the flotilla and injured some of the men on board them. 

The Amphion 's men were dreadfully burned and scalded 
and had marks on their faces and bodies which resembled 
splashes of acid. 

The scene at Harwich was like that which follows a col- 
liery explosion. Of the British seamen in the hospital thirteen 
were suffering from severe burns, five from less serious 
burns, two from the effects of lyddite fumes, and one each 
from concussion, severe injury, slight wounds, shock, and 
slight burns. A few wounded German sailors also lay in 
the hospital. 

SINKING A GEKMAN SUBMARINE 

On August 12 there came from Edinburgh the story of 
an eyewitness of a naval battle in the North Sea on the pre- 
vious Sunday between British cruisers and German subma- 
rines, in which the German submarine U-15 was sunk. 

"The cruiser squadron on Sunday," the story ran, " sud- 
denly became aware of the approach of the submarine flotilla. 
The enemy was submerged, only the periscopes showing above 
the surface of the water. 

"The attitude of the British in the face of this attack 
was cool and the enemy was utterly misled when suddenly 
the cruiser Birmingham, steaming at full speed, fired the first 
shot. This shot was carefully aimed, not at the submerged 
body of a submarine, but at the thin line of the periscope. 

"The gunnery was superbly accurate and shattered the 
periscope. Thereupon the submarine, now a blinded thing, 
rushed along under water in imminent danger of self-destruc- 
tion from collision with the cruisers above. 

"The sightless submarine was then forced to come to 
the surface, whereupon the Birmingham's gunner fired the 
second shot of the fight. This shot struck at the base of the 
conning tower, ripping the whole of the upper structure clean 
and the U-15 sank like a stone. 

"The remainder of the submarine flotilla fled." 



MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 293 

NAVAL BATTLE OFF HELIGOLAND 

In the last week of August a naval engagement occurred 
off the island of Heligoland, in the North Sea. British war 
vessels sank five German ships, killing 900 men. A graphic 
description of the engagement was given by a young lieuten- 
ant who was on one of the British torpedo boat destroyers: 

"I think the home papers are magnifying what really 
was but an affair of outposts. We destroyers went in and 
lured the enemy out and had lots of excitement. The big fel- 
lows then came up and afforded some excellent target prac- 
tice, and we were very glad to see them come; but it was a 
massacre, not a fight. 

" There was superb generalship and overwhelming forces 
on the spot, but there was really nothing for them to do 
except to shoot the enemy, even as father shoots pheasants. 

1 ' Have you ever noticed a dog rush in on a flock of sheep 
and scatter them? He goes for the nearest and barks and 
goes so much faster than the flock that it bunches up with its 
companions. The dog then barks at another and the sheep 
spread out fanwise, so in front of the dog there is a semicircle 
of sheep and behind him none. 

"That was much what we did at 7 a. m. on August 28. 
The sheep were the German torpedo craft, which fell back 
on the limits of our range and tried to lure us within the fire 
of the Heligoland forts. But a cruiser then came out and 
engaged our Arethusa and they had a real heart-to-heart 
talk, while we looked on, and a few of us tried to shoot at 
the enemy, too, though it was beyond our distance. 

"We were getting nearer Heligoland all the time. There 
was a thick mist and I expected every minute to find the 
forts on the island bombarding us, so the Arethusa presently 
drew off after landing at least one good shell on the enemy. 
The enemy gave every hit as good as he got there. 

"We then reformed, but a strong destroyer belonging to 
the submarines got chased, and the Arethusa and Fearless 
went back to look after it. We presently heard a hot action 
astern, so the captain in command of the flotilla turned us 
around and we went back to help. But they had driven the 



294 MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

enemy off and on our arrival told us to 'form up' on the 
Arethusa. 

CRUISEK FIRES ON SHIPS 

' ' When we had partly formed and were very much bunched 
together, making a fine* target, suddenly out of the mist ar- 
rived five or six shells from a point not 150 yards away. We 
gazed at whence they came and again five or six stabs of fire 
pierced the fog, and we made out a four-funneled German 
cruiser of the Breslau class. 

"Those stabs were its guns going off. We waited fifteen 
seconds and the shots and noise of its guns arrived pretty 
well from fifty yards away. Its next salvo of shots went 
above us, and I ducked as they whirred overhead like a covey 
of fast partridges. 

"You would suppose our captain had done this sort of 
thing all his life. He went full speed ahead at once, upon 
the first salvo, to string the bunch out and thus offer less 
target. The commodore from the Arethusa made a signal 
to us to attack with torpedoes. So we swung round at right 
angles and charged full speed at the enemy like a hussar 
attack. 

"Our boat got away at the start magnificently and led 
the field, so all the enemy's firing was aimed at us for the 
next ten minutes, when we got so close that debris from their 
shells fell on board. Then we altered our course and so 
threw them out in their reckoning of our speed, and they had 
all their work to do over again. 

"Humanly speaking, our captain by twisting and turning 
at psychological moments saved us. Actually, I feel that 
we were in God's keeping that day. After ten minutes we 
got near enough to fire our torpedo. Then we turned back 
to the Arethusa. Next our follower arrived just where we 
had been and fired its torpedo, and of course the enemy fired 
at it instead of at us. What a blessed relief ! 

"After the destroyers came the Fearless, and it stayed 
on the scene. Soon we found it was engaging a three-funneler, 
the Mainz, so off we started again, now for the Mainz, the 
situation being that the crippled Arethusa was too tubby to 
do anything but be defended by us, its children. 

"Scarcely, however, had we started when, from out of 



MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 295 

the mist and across our front, in furious pursuit came the 
first cruiser squadron of the town class, the Birmingham, and 
each unit a match for three Lke the Mainz, which was soon 
sunk. As we looked and reduced speed they opened fire, 
and the clear bang-bang of their guns was just like a cooling 
drink. 

"To see a real big four-funneler spouting flame, which 
flame denoted shells starting, and those shells not at us but 
for us, was the most cheerful thing possible. Once we were 
in safety, I hated it. "We had just been having our own imag- 
inations stimulated on the subject of shells striking. 

"Xow, a few minutes later, to see another ship not three 
miles away, reduced to a piteous mass of unrecognizability, 
wreathed in black fumes from which flared out angry gusts 
of fire like Vesuvius in eruption, as an unending stream of 
hundred-pound shells burst on board it, just pointed the moral 
and showed us what might have been. 

"The Lla'nz was immensely gallant. The last I saw of 
it it was absolutely wrecked. It was a fuming inferno. But 
it had one gun forward and one aft still spitting forth fury 
and defiance like a wild cat. 

"Then we went west, while they went east. Just a bit 
later we heard the thunder of the enemy's guns for a space. 
Then fell silence, and we knew that was all. 

A MARVELOUS EESCUE 

"The most romantic, dramatic, and piquant episode that 
modern war can ever show came next. The Defender, hav- 
ing sunk an enemy, lowered a whaler to pick up its swimming 
survivors. Before the whaler got back, an enemy's cruiser 
came up and chased the Defender, which thus had to aban- 
don its small boat. 

"Imagine their feelings, alone in an open boat without 
food, twenty-five miles from the nearest land, and that land 
an enemy's fortress, with nothing but fog and foes around 
them, and then suddenly a swirl alongside, and up, if you 
please, hops His Britannic Majesty's submarine E-4, opens 
its conning tower, takes them all on board, shuts up again, 
dives and brings them home, 250 miles." 



296 MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

THREE BRITISH CRUISERS SUNK 

On Tuesday morning, September 22, the British cruisers 
Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue were torpedoed and sunk by a 
German submarine in the North Sea. Each of the vessels 
carried a crew of about 650 men, and the total of the death roll 
was about 1,400. 

The three cruisers had for some time been patrolling the 
North Sea. Soon after 6 o 'clock in the morning the Aboukir 
suddenly felt a shock on the port side. A dull explosion was 
heard and a column of water was thrown up mast high. The 
explosion wrecked the stokehold just forward of amidships 
and tore the bottom open. 

Almost immediately the doomed cruiser began to settle. 
Except for the watch on deck, most of the crew were asleep, 
wearied by the constant vigil in bad weather, but in perfect 
order the officers and men rushed to quarters. The quick- 
firers were manned in the hope of a dying shot at the sub- 
marine, but there was not a glimpse of one. 

Meanwhile the Aboukir 's sister cruisers, more than a mile 
away, saw and heard the explosion and thought the Aboukir 
had struck a mine. They closed in and lowered boats. This 
sealed their own fate, for, while they were standing by to 
rescue survivors, first the Hogue and then the Cressy was 
torpedoed. 

Only the Cressy appears to have seen the submarine in 
time to attempt to retaliate, and she fired a few shots before 
she keeled over, broken in two, and sank. 

The British officers united in praising the skill and daring 
of the German naval officers, and had nothing but professional 
praise for the submarine's feat. 

"Our only grievance," one said, "is that we have not had 
a shot at the Germans. Our only share of the war has been a 
few uncomfortable weeks of bad weather, mines and sub- 
marines." 

A number of the survivors were taken to the Dutch port of 
Ymuiden, where they were interned as technical prisoners 
of war. 

THE GERMAN" COMMANDER *S STORY 

The German submarine which accomplished the hitherto 
unparalleled feat was the U-9, in command of Capt.-Lieut. Otto 



MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 297 

Weddigen, whose interesting story was given to the public 
through the German Admiralty on October 6, as follows : 

"I set out from a North Sea port on one of the arms of the 
Kiel canal and set my course in a southwesterly direction. 
The name of the port I cannot state officially, but it was not 
many days before the morning of September 22 when I fell 
in with my quarry. 

" British torpedo-boats came within my reach, but I felt 
there was bigger game further on, so on I went. It was ten 
minutes after six in the morning of the 22nd when I caught 
sight of one of the big cruisers of the enemy. 

"I was then eighteen sea miles northwesterly of the Hook 
of Holland. I had traveled considerably more than 200 miles 
from my base. I had been going ahead partially submerged, 
with about five feet of my periscope showing. 

"Almost immediately I caught sight of the first cruiser 
and two others. I submerged completely and laid my course in 
order to bring up in center of the trio, which held a sort of 
triangular formation. I could see their gray-black sides riding 
high over the water. 

"When I first sighted them they were near enough for tor- 
pedo work, but I wanted to make my aim sure, so I went down 
and in on them. I had taken the position of the three ships 
before submerging, and I succeeded in getting another flash 
through my periscope before I began action. I soon reached 
what I regarded as a good shooting point. 

"Then I loosed one of my torpedoes at the middle ship. 
I was then about twelve feet under water and got the shot off 
in good shape, my men handling the boat as if it had been a 
skiff. I climbed to the surface to get a sight through my tube 
of the effect and discovered that the shot had gone straight 
and true, striking the ship, which I later learned was the Abou- 
kir, under one of its magazines, which in exploding helped the 
torpedo's work of destruction. 

"There was a fountain of water, a burst of smoke, a flash 
of fire, and part of the cruiser rose in the air. 

STKIKES THE SECOND CRUISER 

"Its crew were brave and, even with death staring them in 
the face, kept to their posts. I submerged at once. But I had 
stayed on top long enough to see the other cruisers, which I 



298 MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

learned were the Cressy and the Hogue, turn and steam full 
speed to their dying sister. 

"As I reached my torpedo depth I sent a second charge at 
the nearest of the oncoming vessels, which was the Hogue. 
The English were playing my game, for I had scarcely to move 
out of my position, which was a great aid, since it helped to 
keep me from detection. 

1 ' The attack on the Hogue went true. But this time I did 
not have the advantageous aid of having the torpedo detonate 
under the magazine, so for twenty minutes the Hogue lay 
wounded and helpless on the surface before it heaved, half 
turned over, and sank. 

"By this time the third cruiser knew, of course, that the 
enemy was upon it, and it sought as best it could to defend 
itself. It loosed its torpedo defense batteries on bows, star- 
board, and port, and stood its ground as if more anxious to 
help the many sailors in the water than to save itself. 

"In the common method of defending itself against a 
submarine attack, it steamed in a zigzag course, and this made 
it necessary for me to hold my torpedoes until I could lay a 
true course for them, which also made it necessary for me to 
get nearer to the Cressy. 

"I had to come to the surface for a view, and saw how 
wildly the fire was being sent from the ship. Small wonder 
that was when they did not know where to shoot, although one 
shot went unpleasantly near us. 

"When I got within suitable range I sent away my third 
attack. This time I sent a second torpedo after the first to 
make the strike doubly certain. My crew were aiming like 
sharpshooters and both torpedoes went to their bull's-eye. 
My luck was with me again, for the enemy was made useless 
and at once began sinking by the head. Then it careened far 
over, but all the while its men stayed at the guns looking for 
their invisible foe. 

"They were brave and true to their country's sea tradi- 
tions. Then it eventually suffered a boiler explosion and com- 
pletely turned turtle. With its keel uppermost it floated until 
the air got out from under it and then it sank with a loud 
sound, as if from a creature in pain. 

"The whole affair had taken less than one hour from the 



MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 299 

time of shooting off the first torpedo until the Cressy went to 
the bottom. 

•'I set my course for home. Before I got far some British 
cruisers and destroyers were on the spot and the destroyers 
took up the chase. 

"I kept under water most of the way, but managed to get 
off a wireless to the German fleet that I was heading homeward 
and being pursued. But although British destroyers saw me 
plainly at dusk on the 22d and made a final effort to stop me, 
they abandoned the attempt, as it was taking them too far 
from safety and needlessly exposing them to attack from our 
fleet and submarines." 



MERCHANTMEN CAPTURED AND SUNK 

During the first months of the war a large number of mer- 
chant vessels, principally German and British, were captured 
or sunk. According to a British Admiralty return, issued Sep- 
tember 28, twelve British ships with an aggregate tonnage of 
59,331 tons had been sunk on the high seas by German cruisers 
up to September 23. Eight other British ships, whose ton- 
nage aggregated 2,970, had been sunk by German mines in the 
North Sea, and 24 fishing craft, with a tonnage of 4,334, had 
been captured or sunk by the Germans in the same waters. 
British ships detained at German ports numbered 74, with a 
total tonnage of 170,000. 

On the other side the Admiralty reported 102 German 
ships, with a total tonnage of 200,000, detained in British ports 
since the outbreak of the war; while 88 German ships, of an 
aggregate tonnage of 338,000, had been captured since hostili- 
ties began. 

The return also showed that 168 German ships, with an 
aggregate tonnage of 283,000, had been detained or captured 
by the Allies. Fifteen ships, with a tonnage of 247,000, were 
detained in American ports, while fourteen others, with a ton- 
nage of 72,000, remained in the Suez Canal. 

The German mines in the North Sea had also destroyed 
seven Scandinavian ships, with a tonnage of 11,098. 

GERMAN CRUISERS ACTIVE 

Several German cruisers were amazingly active in distant 
waters early in the war. Among these were the Goeben, Bres- 
lau, Emden, Karlsruhe, and Leipzig, which captured or sank 



300 MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 

a number of vessels of the enemy. The German cruisers 
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau also operated in the Pacific, 
bombarding the French colony of Papeete, on the island of 
Tahiti, and inflicting much damage, including the sinking of 
two vessels. 

On August 26 the big converted German liner Kaiser Wil- 
helm der Grosse, while cruising on the northwest coast of 
Africa, was sunk by the British cruiser Highflyer. 

The German cruiser Dresden was reported sunk by British 
cruisers in South American waters in the second week of Sep- 
tember. The Emden, operating under the German flag in the 
Indian Ocean, sank several British steamers. Several Aus- 
trian vessels succumbed to mines off the coast of Dalmatia and 
in the Baltic there were a number of casualties in which both 
Russian and German cruisers suffered. The Russian armored 
cruiser Bayan was sunk in a fight near the entrance to the 
Gulf of Finland. 

On September 20 the German protected cruiser Koenigs- 
berg attacked the British light cruiser Pegasus in the harbor 
of Zanzibar and disabled her. Off the east coast of South 
America the British auxiliary cruiser Carmania, a former 
Cunard liner, destroyed a German merchant cruiser mounting 
eight four-inch guns. About the same time the German 
cruiser Hela was sunk in the North Sea by the British sub- 
marine E-9. The Kronprinz Wilhelm, a former German liner, 
which had been supplying coal to German cruisers in the 
Atlantic, was also sunk by the British. 

GERMAN COLONY OCCUPIED 

The British Admiralty announced on September 12 that 
the Australian fleet had occupied Herbertshoehe, on Blanche 
Bay, the seat of government of the German Bismarck Archi- 
pelago and the Solomon Islands. 

The Bismarck Archipelago, with an area of 18,000 square 
miles and a population of 200,000, is off the north coast of 
Australia and southwest of the Philippine Islands. The group 
was assigned to the German sphere of influence by an agree- 
ment with Great Britain in 1885. German New Guinea was 
included in the jurisdiction. 

GERMANS SINK RUSS CRUISER 

On October 11 German submarines in the Baltic torpedoed 
and sank the Russian armored cruiser Pallada with all its 



MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS 301 

crew, numbering 568 men. The Pallada had a displacement 
of 7,775 tons and was a sister ship of the Admiral Makarov 
and Bayan. She was launched in November, 1906, and had 
a water-line length of 443 feet; beam, 57 feet; draft of 21V4 
feet, and a speed of 21 knots. She carried two 8-inch, eight 
6-inch, twenty-two 12-pounders, four 3-pounders, and two tor- 
pedo tubes. Seven inches of Krupp armor protected the ves- 
sel amidships and four inches forward. 

The Pallada was engaged in patrolling the Baltic with the 
Admiral Makarov when attacked by the submarines. She 
opened a strong fire on them, but was blown up by a torpedo 
launched by one of the submerged craft, while the Makarov 
escaped. 

BRITISH CRUISER HAWKE SUNK 

On October 15th, while the British cruisers Hawke and 
Theseus were patrolling the northern waters of the North 
Sea, they were attacked by a German submarine. The Hawke, 
a cruiser of 7,750 tons, commanded by Capt. H. P. E. T. Wil- 
liams, was torpedoed and sank in eight minutes. Only seventy- 
three of her crew of 400 officers and men were saved. The 
Theseus escaped. 

BRITISH AVENGE AMPHION's LOSS 

Capt. Cecil H. Fox, who was in command of the British 
cruiser Amphion when she was destroyed by a German mine 
early in the war, had his revenge on October 17, when, in com- 
mand of the cruiser Undaunted, he sank four German torpedo 
boat destroyers off the coast of Holland. Only 31 of the com- 
bined crews of 400 men were saved and these were taken as 
prisoners of war. 



CHAPTEE XX 

SUBMARINES AND MINES 

Battleships in Constant Danger from Submerged Craft — 
Opinions of Admiral Sir Percy Scott — Construction of 
Modern Torpedoes — How Mines Are Laid and Ex- 
ploded on Contact. 

SIR PERCY SCOTT, admiral in the British navy, who 
through his inventions made possible the advance in 

marksmanship with heavy guns and increased the poss ; - 
bilities of hitting at long range and of broadside firing, said 
recently that everything he has done to enhance the value o' 
the gun is rendered useless by the advent of the latest type 
of submarine, a vessel which has for its principal weapon the 
torpedo. Dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts are doomed, 
because thoy no longer can be safe at sea from the submarine 
nor find safety in harbors. 

"The introduction of vessels that swim under water," he 
said, "has in my opinion entirely done away with the utility 
of the ships that swim on top of tie water. The functions 
of a war vessel were these: Defensively, [1] to attack ships 
that come to bombard our forts, [2] to attack ships that come 
to blockade us, [3] to attack ships convoying a landing party, 
[4] to attack the enemy's fleet, [5] to attack ships interfering 
with our commerce; offensively, [1] to bombard an enemy's 
ports, [2] to blockade an enemy, [3] to convoy a landing 
party, [4] to attack the enemy's fleet, [5] to attack the enemy's 
commerce. 

"The submarine renders 1, 2 and 3 impossible, as no man 
of war will daro to com^ even within sight of a coast that is 
adequately protected by submarines. The fourth function 

302 



SUBMARINES AND 3IINES 303 

of a battleship is to attack an enemy's fleet, but there will be 
no fleet to attack, as it will not be safe for a fleet tj put to 
sea. Submarines and aeroplanes have entirely revolution- 
ized naval warfare; no fleet can hide itself from the aero- 
plane's eye, and the submarine can deliver a deadly attack 
in broad daylight. 

"In time of war the scouting aeroplanes will always be 
high above on the lookout, and the submarines in constant 
readiness. If an enemy is sighted the gong sounds and the 
leash of a flotilla of submarines will be slipped. Whether it 
be night or day, fine or rough, they must go out in search of 
their quarry; if they find her she is doomed and they give 
no quarter; they cannot board her and take her as prize as 
in the olden days; they only wait till she sinks, then return 
home without even knowing the number of human beings they 
have sent to the bottom of the ocean. 

"Not only is the open sea unsafe; a battleship is not im- 
mune from attack even in a closed harbor, for the so-called 
protecting boom at the entrance can easily be blown up. With 
a flotilla of submarines commanded by dashing young offi- 
cers, of whom we have plenty, I would undertake to get 
through any boom into any harbor and sink or materially 
damage all the ships in that harbor." 

A PRACTICAL Man's VIEWS 

This is not a mere theorist or dreamer talking, says Bur- 
ton Roscoe in commenting on Admiral Scott's statements; 
it is the one man in England most supremely versed in naval 
tactics, the man to whom all nations owe the present effective- 
ness of the broadside of eight, twelve and fourteen inch guns 
and the perfection in sighting long range guns. 

The newest type of submarine torpedo is 100 per cent effi- 
cient. The torpedo net of steel that used to be the ship's 
defense against torpedoes is now useless. The modern tor- 
pedoes need only to come in contact with a surface like the 
torpedo net or the armor plate of a battleship to discharge 
a shell wdiich will burst through a two-inch armor caisson, 
rupture the hull of a battleship, and s'nk it in a few minutes. 

The torpedo submarines of the modern type have a sub- 
merged speed of from eMit to ten knots an hour. Only a 
small surface, including the bridge or conning tower, is ex- 



804 SUBMARINES AND MINES 

posed, thus making it almost impossible to hit them with the 
clumsy guns aboard ship. The highest type of submarine 
has a submerged tonnage of 812 tons and its length is 176 
feet. 

Each submarine carries from one to six torpedoes, each 
of which is capable of sinking the most heavily armored ves- 
sel afloat. The sighter in the conning tower moves swiftly 
up within range of the vessel he is attacking and gives the 
signal for the discharge of the torpedo. The men aboard 
the attacked ship have no warning of their impending death 
except a thin sheaf of water that follows on the surface in 
the wake of the submerged torpedo and which lasts only an 
instant. 

RUN" BY COMPRESSED AIR 

By a compressed air arrangement motive power is fur- 
nished the torpedo in transit for its propellers. A gyroscope 
keeps it on a plane and upright. A striker on the nose of 
the torpedo is released by a fan which revolves in the water. 
The nose of the torpedo strikes the side of the battleship and 
the compact jars the primer of fulminate of mercury. The 
high explosive of gunpowder forces out a shell and explodes 
with it after the shell has penetrated the armor. Then the 
work is done. 

It is generally believed the principal harbors and fortifica- 
tions in England are heavily supplied with torpedoes of the 
new type. It is also believed that the fortifications about the 
River Elbe are thus equipped. If this is a fact the defending 
nation will be able not only to repulse any fleet attempting 
an invasion but also to destroy it. By throwing across the 
Straits of Dover, or across the lower end of the North Sea, 
a flotilla of its powerful submarines England can prevent 
any naval invasion of France or England or Belgium by 
Germany should the attacking fleet take this route. 

In the latest type of submarine the United States is de- 
ficient. There are only twenty-nine submarines in the United 
States naval service at the present time and only eighteen 
under construction. 

The old type of torpedo did not have penetrative power 



SUBMARINES AND MINES 



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306 SUBMARINES AND MINES • 

sufficient to sink the modern armor-clad battleship unless it 
struck under exceptionally favorable circumstances. A large 
percentage of the destructive power was expended on the 
outside of the hull. Commander Davis of the United States 
navy invented the torpedo that carries its power undiminished 
into the interior of the vessel. 

CAN" CUT TOKPEDO NETS 

The new torpedoes are provided with special steel cutters 
by which they cut through the strongest steel torpedo net. 
The torpedo has within it an eight-inch gun, capable of ex- 
ploding a shell with a muzzle velocity of about 1,000 feet a 
second. The projectile carries a bursting charge of a high ex- 
plosive, and this charge is detonated by a delayed-action fuse. 
When the torpedo strikes its target, the gun is fired and the 
shell strikes the outside plating of the ship. Then the fuse 
in the shell's base explodes the charge in the shell, immedi- 
ately after the impact. 

With a small fleet of these under-water fighting vessels — 
say of two or three — an invading or blockading fleet of not 
more than twenty men-of-war can be destroyed within an hour 
by an otherwise unprotected harbor or port. 

Germany has a few of these latest style submarines, and 
if it can rush the construction of the thirty-one now being 
built, it will have a flotilla that will protect its harbor towns 
against invasion. 

France, also with its fifty submarines and thirty-one under 
construction, and its great corps of scouting aeroplanes, will 
prove a formidable agent in crippling the activities of Ger- 
many's big fleet of dreadnoughts, armored cruisers and bat- 
tleships. Russia will need its twenty-five submarines for 
coast defense and probably will not send them out of the 
Baltic [or out of the Black Sea in the event that Italy is drawn 
into the conflict.] 

Undoubtedly, then, the great battles in the present war, 
on the water at least, may be decided by these silently mov- 
ing, dinky sized, almost imperceptible submarines which carry 
the ever-destroying torpedoes. And the loss of lives will be 
more prodigious than ever. 



SUBMARINES AND MINES 307 

SUBMAEINE STEENGTH OF THE POWEES 

Built Building. 

Great Britain 69 35 

Prance 50 31 

Russia 25 30 

Germany 24 31 

Italy 18 8 

Austria 6 11 

SUBMEEGED MINES HOW THEY AEE LAID AND THEIE WOEKING 

The sinking of the light cruiser Pathfinder of the British 
navy by a German mine in the North Sea early in the war 
called special attention to the deadly character of the mines 
of the present day. 

A modern mine-laying ship puts to sea with a row of contact 
mines on rails along her side, ready for dropping into the sea. 
The rails project over the stern. The essential parts of a 
special type of mine of recent design consist of (1) the mine 
proper, comprising the explosive charge and detonating 
apparatus in a spherical case; (2) a square-shaped anchor 
chamber, connected with the mine by a length of cable; (3) a 
plummet-weight used in placing the mine in position, connected 
with the anchor chamber by a rope. Thus the mine appears 
on the deck of the mine-laying ship before being lowered over 
the stern. 

Before the mine goes over, a windlass inside the plummet- 
sinker is revolved by hand until the length of cable between the 
plummet and the anchor-chamber has been reeled off equiva- 
lent to the depth below the surface at which the explosive mine 
is to float. 

Then the entire apparatus is hove overboard. The plum- 
met and anchor-chamber sink, while the spherical mine proper 
is kept on the surface for the moment by means of a buoyant 
air-chamber within. A windlass in the anchor-chamber now 
pays out the cable between it and the mine as the anchor- 
chamber sinks. On the plummet touching bottom, the tension 
in the cable between it and the anchor-chamber is lessened, 
and the windlass mentioned stops. The anchor-chamber there- 
upon sinks to the bottom, dragging down the spherical mine 
until that is at the selected depth ready for its deadly work. 



308 



SUBMARINES AND MINES 



When a ship strikes the mine the explosive case revolves 
and moves a projecting contact-lever sideways. That releases 
a firing-pin from a pair of hinged jaws which till then had held 
it steady. A coil-spring is thus freed and drives the firing- 
pin, or striker, hard against the detonator, firing the mine. 



INO\A/'S YOUR CHANCE, UNCLE SAM. 




— Chicago Tribune 



CHAPTER XXI 

AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 

Aerial Attacks on Cities — Some of the Achievements of the 
Airmen in the Great War — Deeds of Heroism and Dar- 
ing — Zeppelins in Action — Their Construction and 
Operation. 

DURING the first ten weeks of the war German airmen 
flew over Paris several times and dropped bombs that did 
some damage. Aeroplanes, not Zeppelins, were used in 
these attempts to terrorize the capital and other cities of 
France. 

The early visits of Zeppelin airships to Antwerp have been 
described in a previous chapter. These were continued up to 
the time of the fall of Antwerp. While comparatively few 
lives were lost through the explosion of the bombs dropped, 
the recurring attacks served to keep the inhabitants, if not the 
Belgian troops, in a state of constant excitement and fear. 
When the city fell into German hands, a similar condition 
arose in England, where it was feared that Antwerp might be 
made the base for German airship attacks on London and 
other cities of Great Britain; and all possible precautions 
were taken against such attacks. The members of the Royal 
Flying Corps were kept constantly on the alert; powerful 
searchlights swept the sky over London and the English coast 
every night and artillery was kept in readiness to repel an 
aerial invasion. Such was the condition in the third week 
of October. 

BEITISH ATTACK ON DUSSELDOKF 

A new type of British aeroplane was developed during the 
war, capable of rising from the ground at a very sharp angle 
and of developing a speed of 150 miles an hour. And in their 

309 



310 AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 

operations in France and Belgium the British army aviators 
proved themselves highly efficient and earned unstinted praise 
from Field Marshal Sir John French, in command of the 
British forces on the continent. One of their notable exploits 
was an attack, October 8, on the Zeppelin sheds at Dussel- 
dorf and Cologne, in German territory. The attack was 
made by Lieut. R. S. G. Marix, of the Naval Flying Corps, in a 
monoplane, and Squadron Commander Spencer Grey, with 
Lieut. S. V. Lippe, in a biplane. Flying from Antwerp at a 
height of 5,000 feet, to escape the almost continuous German 
fire, Lieut. Marix succeeded in locating the Zeppelin hangars 
at Dusseldorf. Then descending to a height of only 1,000 feet 
he released two bombs when directly over them, damaging 
both hangars and aircraft. A German bullet passed through 
Lieut. Marix 's cap and the wings of his aeroplane were 
pierced in a dozen places, but he succeeded in returning to 
the burning city of Antwerp, which he was ordered to leave 
the same evening. 

During the same raid Commander Spencer Grey flew to 
Cologne. He was unable to locate the Zeppelin hangars but 
dropped two bombs into the railway station, which was badly 
damaged. 

A night or two later a German Zeppelin flew over Ghent 
and dropped a bomb near the South station. On October 11 
two German aviators dropped a score of bombs on different 
quarters of Paris, killing three civilians and injuring four- 
teen others. The property damage, however, was slight and 
the effectiveness of bomb-dropping as a means of destroying 
a city or fortifications remained to be proved to the military 
mind. It was noted that a large proportion of the bombs 
dropped by German aviators failed to explode. 

HEROIC ACTS BY AIRMEN 

Stories of heroism displayed by aviators on both sides of 
the great conflict have abounded. One story of the devotion 
of German airmen, told to a correspondent by several German 
officers, he succeeded in verifying, but was unable to learn 
the name of the particular hero of the occurrence. This story 
was as follows : 

"In one of the battles around Rheims it became necessary 



AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 311 

to blow up a bridge which was about to be crossed by advanc- 
ing French troops coming to relieve a beleaguered fort. The 
only way to destroy the bridge was for an airman to swoop 
down and drop an exceptionally powerful bomb upon it. 

"There were twenty-four flyers with that division of the 
German army. A volunteer was asked for, it being first 
announced that the required task meant sure death to the man 
undertaking it. 

"Every one of the twenty-four stepped forward without 
hesitation. Lots were quickly drawn. The chosen man 
departed without saying farewell to any one. Within five 
minutes the bridge was in ruins and the aeroplane and its 
heroic pilot had been blown to pieces. This incident was not 
published in the press of Germany, because of the fear that it 
would cause terrible anxiety to the wives of all married Ger- 
man flyers.' ' 

A DUEL HIGH IN THE AIR 

An aerial victory for a French aviator, fought thousands 
of feet in the air in the presence of troops of both armies, was 
reported by Lieutenant de Laine of the French aerial corps 
on October 10. The air duel was one of the most thrilling since 
the war began. Lieutenant de Laine 's account of the combat 
was as follows : 

' ' I had been ordered to fly over the German lines with an 
observer who was to drop pamphlets. These pamphlets con- 
tained the following inscription: 

" 'German soldiers, attention! German officers say that 
the French maltreat prisoners. This is a lie. German prison- 
ers are as well treated as unfortunate adversaries should be.' 

"We had no sooner taken wing than the aeroplane was 
sighted by German observers in captive balloons anchored 
about six miles distant. Immediately two Albatross machines 
rose from the German camp and came forward. 

"We continued to advance, meanwhile sending the aero- 
plane higher and higher until the barograph showed we were 
6,000 feet above the ground. Our machine was speedier than 
the German aeroplane, which was constructed of steel and 
was so heavy it could not work up the speed of the French 
army monoplane. 

"We were able to get over the German lines and my com- 



312 AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 

panion began hurling thousands of the pamphlets in every 
direction. It was like a snowstorm. 

"In the meantime, the German artillery got their long 
range air guns in action and were hurling volley after volley 
against us. The shells were of special type, designed to create 
violent air waves when they burst. We were too high to be 
reached, but we had to turn our attention to the two aeroplanes 
which were rushing toward us. 

"As they approached the German artillery fire stopped. 
We were too high to distinguish what was going on beneath 
us, but I could imagine the thousands of soldiers staring sky- 
ward in wonder at the strange spectacle above them. 

"We kept swinging in wide circles over the German lines 
and I kept getting higher and higher in order to outmaneuver 
the German plane and to prevent it from getting above us so 
that bombs could be thrown at us. 

"The machines were all equipped with rapid-fire guns, and 
when we got within 100 yards of each other, both sides opened 
fire. The bullets went wide. Finally we began to swing back- 
ward, getting lower and lower. One of the German machines 
was thus lured over the French lines and our land artillery 
opened against it. One of its wings was shattered and it 
dropped, but the other aeroplane escaped. ' ' 

HOW A GERMAN AVIATOR ESCAPED 

How a German aviator in Belgium secured control of a 
falling aeroplane after his companion had been killed is 
described in a thrilling letter received by his father in Berlin 
September 30. It reads : 

"Dear Father: I am lying here in a beautiful Belgian 
castle slowly recovering from wounds I thought would kill mo. 
On August 22 I made a flight with Lieutenant J., a splendid 
aviator; established the fact that the enemy was advancing 
toward us. In the region of Bertrix we came into heavy rain- 
clouds and had to descend to 3,000 feet. As we came through 
the clouds we were seen and an entire French division began 
shooting at us. 

"Lieutenant J. was hit in the abdomen. Our motor was 
put out of commission. We were trying to volplane across 
a forest in the distance when suddenly I felt the machine give 



AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 313 

a jump. I turned around — as I was sitting in front — and 
found that a second bullet had hit Lieutenant J. in the head 
and killed him. 

1 ' I leaned over the back of the seat and managed to reach 
the steering apparatus and headed down. A hail of shots 
whistled about me. I felt something hit me in the fore- 
head. Blood ran into my eyes. I was faint. But will pre- 
vailed and I retained consciousness. Just as we were near 
the ground a gust of wind hit the plane and turned my machine 
over. I fell in the midst of the enemy with my dead com- 
panion. The 'red trousers' were coming from all directions 
and I drew my pistol and shot three of them. I felt a bayonet 
at my breast and gave myself up for dead when an officer 
shouted: " 'Let him live! He is a brave soldier.' 

"I was taken to the commanding general of the Seven- 
teenth French army corps, who questioned me, but, of course, 
got no information. He said I would later be sent to Paris, but 
as I was weak from loss of blood and seriously wounded I was 
taken into their field hospital and cared for. The officers were 
very nice to me and when the French fell back I took advantage 
of the confusion to crawl under a bush, where I remained until 
our troops came." 

Many occurrences of a similarly thrilling character have 
been related in the camps of the contending armies. The 
above suffice to show the patriotic devotion and heroism of the 
military forces of the air, which for the first time in history 
have been a prominent feature of warfare in 1914. 



ZEPPELINS IN ACTION 

The real story of the performances of air-craft in the 
war has not been told, but there has been enough to give the 
world a terrifying glimpse of these modern weapons. 

The three attacks on Antwerp by a Zeppelin airship 
brought into action the long predicted onslaught by forces 
of the air against the ground. After one of the great German 
dirigibles had been brought down by gunfire because it was 
accidentally guided too near the earth, another returned over 
the city, and the havoc wrought by this single craft realizes 



314 AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 

the horrors that would follow any concerted attack by a 
fleet of the aerial destroyers if they were launched against 
a city. 

The Zeppelin is an impressive thing because of its size, 
cigar-shaped and ranging from 300 to over 500 feet in length, 
driven at a rate of 40 miles an hour by four propellers and 
carrying a huge car. It is most valuable for use at night, 
of course, but has proved it is capable of doing its deadly 
work out of range of ordinary gunfire at day. Artillery has 
been invented which can reach airships flying at 5,000 feet, 
but there is not much of it. The half dozen German Zeppelins 
which have been destroyed by French and Eussian fire met 
their fate chiefly because they got too near the ground. 

Refugees from Belgium describe the method used by Zep- 
pelins in dropping bombs. The dirigible is kept as much as 
possible out of range of the enemy's guns while it lowers 
a steel cage, attached to a steel rope, 200 or 300 feet long. 
The cage carries a man who throws down the bombs. Be- 
cause of the small size of the cage and the fact that it is kept 
constantly in motion it is difficult for heavy guns to hit it. 
The great airship remains perfectly stable while the missiles, 
of which there are a variety for different missions, are being 
hurled. All the military Zeppelins of Germany are armed 
and there are a large number of unarmed dirigibles in re- 
serve. 

It is estimated that there are 100 aeroplanes with the 
British forces on the continent. The French army has hun- 
dreds of aeroplanes of various kinds. Germany's fleet of 
flying machines has been in action continuously and the 
aviators have proved a big aid in scouting as well as in 
dropping bombs and grenades on the enemy. 

The newest French aeroplanes are said to be equipped 
with boxes filled with thousands of " steel arrows." 

These " arrows" are really steel bolts four inches long. 
When the aviator sails over the enemy he opens trapdoors 
of the " arrow" boxes with a simple device and lets showers 
of bolts fall on the men below. One of the ' ' arrows ' ' dropped 
2,000 feet will go through a German helmet and a soldier's 




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Highlanders driving the German enemy into the ancient artificial fishponds near Ermenonvillo, inj 
the forest between Compiegne and Chantilly. One of the fiercest hand-to-hand encounters that can 
be imagined took place in this normally secluded and peaceful spot. During the battle a Highland i 
regiment, driving the enemy back through the woods, hurled a number of them straight into the|' 



1 




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onds. The Highlanders followed them into the water and there was fierce work with bayonet 
rifle. Numbers of the Germans were bayoneted, while others were shot down or drowned in 
rater, which soon teemed with corpses. — Drawn by A. C. Michel from a sketch by Frederic Villiers. 




CopyripTit, Underwood & XTB-iMwoTd. , ,.„ vnu . nt to him of a hundred francs, signaled a 

U This French soldier, tempted hj <' ' ''' , " ,' J ,f t t > French batteries near Rhoims. 

message to the Germans giving them the positi < n >i i m l , t j the act met an Igno- 

He was the first French traitor of tbe war and n . .a U.t^ In^ ^ .. Bsplon .. 

^^InKwas^d^at^^hai aU iltftTS how^his treachery was punched. 




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The portraits printed above are those of a few of the British officers who lost their 
lives in battle during the early period of the war. Most of . them were members of 
famous fighting families, bearing names known throughout the British Empire. For 
many weeks the London illustrated papers published several pages a week similar to the 
above, and in some cases the appearance of these portraits of the dead gave relatives 
ind friends the first intimation of their loss. The casualties among British officers have 
been especially heavy, but all the warring nations have sustained similar losses of their 
best and bravest sons. 



AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 



315 



head. A shower of them would prove effective against a 
massed enemy. 

On August 10 the correspondent of the London Times in 
Brussels, describing the fighting at Liege, said aerial fleets 




THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF SOME OF THE EURO- 
PEAN NATIONS IN AEROPLANES AND DIRIGIBLES. 



-Aero and Hydro, Chicago 



were used by both Belgians and Germans. The fighting in 
midair was desultory but deadly. A huge Zeppelin sailed 
over Liege during the early fighting, but was pursued by a 



316 AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS 

Belgian aeroplanist, who risked and lost his life in destroy- 
ing it. 

After the destruction of this Zeppelin the Germans con- 
fined their aerial activity to the use of scouting aeroplanes, 
several of which were destroyed by shots from the forts. 
Attempts to reach the aeroplanes with shells were often un- 
successful, however, owing to the inability to shoot high 
enough. 



AVIATION CAMPS IN EUROPE 

In the early days of the great war only an occasional flash 
of news was received about the French and Russian aero- 
military operations or those of the German corps along 
the Russian and French frontiers. It was difficult to imagine 
that they were idle, for the German-Russian and the French- 
German frontiers had been the locations of many military 
aeronautical camps or fortresses. These were described at 
the outbreak of hostilities as follows : 

1 'Along the German frontier facing Russia are the im- 
portant aero centers of Thorn and Graudenz, while the near- 
est aero base in Russia is at Riga, farther north. 

"Against German invasion there are French centers at 
Verdun, Nancy, Luneville and Belfort. The most important 
is at Belfort. Sixty miles from the Belgian frontier and 170 
miles from Liege is the great center at Rheims, with the 
even more important base at Chalons-sur-Marne only twenty- 
five miles distant. 

"Seventy-five to 100 miles is the scouting range of the 
military aeroplanes, while the dirigibles will scout 500 to 
1,000 miles from the base, according to the duration efficiency. 
The Zeppelins might, taking some risk, travel even farther. 
With this taken into consideration, the fact that there are 
only two German aero centers on the French frontier — Aix- 
la-Chapelle and Metz — is not very significant. The range 
of the Vosges occupies the territory where there is no aero 
center. 

"Back of the mountains, along the Rhone from Dusseldorf 
to Strasbourg, there are a dozen aero stations, some of them 
devoted to aeroplanes and dirigibles, others to dirigibles alone. 

"The latest data show that Germany has sixty stations, 



AERO-MILITARY OPERATIC 



m 



in i 
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or little flee 



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bablv not more than four . 
of four machines each, on the scene, while 

'.y.v-.'i.-.- ,rz-/-s.hz." 






CHAPTER XXII 

BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

Most Prolonged Encounter in History Between Gigantic 
Forces — A Far-Flung Battle Line — Germans Face 
French and British in the Aisne Valley and Fight for 
Weeks — Mighty Armies Deadlocked After a Desperate 
and Bloody Struggle. 

FOR a few days after the tide of battle in France turned in 
favor of the Allies (September 9), the German forces 
continued to retreat to the north, closely followed by the 
French and British armies that had fought and won the battle 
of the Marne, as described in a previous chapter. This north- 
ward movement was marked by heavy German losses in men 
and munitions of war, and lasted until Saturday, September 
12, when the Germans were found to be occupying a position of 
great defensive strength on the River Aisne, north of Soissons. 
At that time they held both sides of the river and had a for- 
midable line of intrenchments on the hills to the north of 
eight road bridges and two railway bridges crossing the 
Aisne. Seven of the road bridges and both the railway 
bridges had been destroyed. 

The Allies gained some high ground south of the Aisne, 
overlooking the Aisne valley, east of Soissons. Then began 
(on Saturday, September 12) an action along the Aisne which 
was destined to go down in history as the greatest and most 
prolonged battle of all time. Two days, three days, a week, 
two weeks, three, four, five weeks it lasted, with varying for- 
tune to the contending armies, but no decisive result. Ger- 
mans, French and British, literally by the thousand, fell under 
the continuous hail of shrapne.1, the hurricane of machine-gun 
and rifle fire, or in the desperate bayonpt charges of daily 
occurrence, but still the battle raged. Minor positions were 

318 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 319 

gained and lost, towns and villages along the far-flung battle 
line were occupied and evacuated, countless deeds of heroism 
were wrought, to be sung and celebrated by posterity in a 
dozen different lands — but the lines on both sides held and 
victory refused to perch on any banner. 

Modern scientific strategy exhausted its utmost efforts; 
flanking and turning movements were planned, attempted and 
failed ; huge masses of men were hurled against each other in 
every formation known to military skill ; myriads of lives and 
millions of money were sacrificed in historic endeavors to 
breach the enemy's front — but ever the foeman held his 
ground and neither side could claim decided advantage. In- 
trenchments such as the world has never seen before covered 
the countryside for fifty miles. Teuton, Gaul and Anglo- 
Saxon, Turco and Hindu, literally "dug themselves in," and 
refused to budge an inch, though hell itself, in all its horror 
and its fury, was loosed against them. 

And thus the battle of the Aisne — also aptly called, from 
its extent and ramifications, the battle of the Rivers — con- 
tinued through many weeks while all the world wondered and 
stood aghast at the slaughter, and the single gleam of bright- 
ness that came out of that maelstrom of death and misery was 
the growing respect of Frenchman, German and Briton for the 
individual and collective courage of each other and the death- 
defying devotion that was daily displayed by all. 

FIGHTING CONTINUOUS DAY AND NIGHT 

Beginning as an artillery duel in which the field-guns of 
the French and Germans were matched against each other 
from opposite heights as never before, the battle of the 
Aisne soon resolved itself into a series of daily actions in 
which every arm of the opposing hosts engaged. There 
was little rest for the troops day or night. Artillery fire 
beginning at daybreak and continuing till dusk might 
break out again at any hour of the night, the range of the 
enemy's intrenchments being known. Frequently the artillery 
seemed to open fire in the still watches of the night for no 
other reason than to prevent the enemy in his trenches from 
getting any sleep at all, and many a man was borne to the 
rear on both sides suffering from no wound, but from utter 



320 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

exhaustion — a state of collapse which is often as deadly as 
shrapnel to the soldier in the held. 

For weeks at a time the only real rest for many of the 
troops engaged along the line of battle came in snatches of 
a few hours when they were temporarily relieved by fresh 
troops brought up from the rear, and these in their turn might 
be soon exhausted by the continuous strain of keeping on the 
alert to repel attacks — or, as frequently happened, their ranks 
might be decimated, or worse, when they were ordered to a 
charge. Officers and men suffered alike from the strenuous 
nature of the demands made upon them — and so far as actual 
casualties are concerned the battle was one in which officers 
of all ranks, in all the armies, suffered perhaps more severely, 
in proportion to the number engaged, than in any previous 
battle. Hundreds of British officers, for example, were among 
the victims whose bones lie rotting in the valley of the Aisne, 
as whole pages of their portraits in the London journals, bear- 
ing many of the best known names in the British Empire, 
testified in mute protest against the horrors of war. And 
both Germany and France have a similar "roll of honor. ! ' 



REPOKTS OF THE BATTLE 

While the great battle of the Eivers was in progress the 
most connected stories of its daily developments came through 
the British official news bureau, and these are reproduced in 
part in the pages that follow. The author of these reports is 
believed to be Colonel Swinton, of Field Marshal French's 
staff, who is generally credited with having contributed to the 
literature of the war some of the most interesting and enlight- 
ening accounts of the operations of the British and French 
armies in the field. And these reports are given here, 
because of their general character of apparent truth and fair- 
ness, and in the absence of any similar reports from the other 
side. 

It must be remembered, of course, that Colonel Swinton, or 
whatever officer is responsible for them, naturally minimizes 
the British losses he admits, and possibly exaggerates the 
losses of the Germans. Besides this, it will be well to recollect 
that the reports have been carefully edited by the British 
censors before being given to the public. But, taken as a 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 



821 



whole, they give a remarkably vivid picture of the happenings 
along the Aisne in the momentous days of September and 
October that tried men's souls; while the stories of independ- 
ent and neutral observers which follow the British official 
reports further illuminate the valley of death. 




In the above view the Rivers Marne, Ourcq, Aisne, Oise, and Meuse are clearly 
shown, exaggerated in size for convenience of reference. The position of tbe Allies 
September 20, 1914, is shown by a black dotted line running from between Amiens 
and Peronne to Verdun and Nancy. The German front is indicated by the shaded 
sections, which also show the German lines of communication or retreat, numbered 
from 1 to 7. At this time the Allies were pushing nort'i to Arras, endeavoring to 
turn the German right flank in command of General von Kluck. 

OPENING OF THE GREAT BATTLE 

The following report from the British headquarters covers 
the period when the Allies' forward movement was halted 
along the Aisne and also describes the terrain, or country, in 
which the subsequent fighting occurred : 

"From Thursday, September 10, the British army made 



322 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

steady progress in its endeavor to drive back the enemy in 
co-operation with the French. The country across which it 
had to force its way, and will have to continue to do so, is 
undulating and covered with patches of thick wood. 

"Within the area which faced the British before the ad- 
vance commenced, right up to Laon, the chief feature of 
tactical importance is the fact that there are six rivers run- 
ning across the direction of the advance, at all of which it was 
possible that the Germans might make resistance. These 
rivers are, in order from the south, the Marne, Ourcq, Vesle, 
Aisne, Ailette and Oise. 

"The Germans held the line of the Marne, which was 
crossed by our forces on September 9, as a purely rearguard 
operation. Our passage of the Ourcq was not contested. The 
Vesle was only lightly held, while resistance along the Aisne, 
both against the French and the British, has been and still is 
of a determined character. 

"On Friday, September 11, but little opposition was met 
with along any part of our front, and the direction of the 
advance was, for the purpose of co-operating with our allies, 
turned slightly to the northeast. The day was spent in rush- 
ing forward and gathering in various hostile detachments. 
By nightfall our forces had reached a line north of the Ourcq, 
extending from Oulchy-le-Chateau to Longpont. 

"On this day there was also a general advance of the 
French along their whole line, which ended in a substantial 
success, in one portion of the field Duke Albrecht of Wuert- 
temburg's army being driven back across the Saulx, and else- 
where the whole of the artillery of a German corps being- 
captured. Several German colors also were taken. 

"It was only on this day that the full extent of the victory 
gained by the Allies on September 8 [at the Marne] was 
appreciated by them, and the moral effect of this success has 
been enormous. An order dated September 6 and 7, issued 
by the commander of the German Seventh Corps, was picked 
up. It stated that the great object of the war was about to be 
attained, since the French were going to accept battle, and 
that upon the result of this battle would depend the issue of 
the war and the honor of the German armies. 

"On Saturday, the 12th, the enemy were found to be 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 323 

occupying a very formidable position opposite us on the north 
of the line at Soissons. Working from the west to the east, 
our Third Army Corps gained some high ground south of the 
Aisne overlooking the Aisne valley, to the east of Soissons. 
Here a long-range artillery duel between our guns and those 
of the French on our left and the enemy's artillery on the 
hills continued during the greater part of the day, and did 
not cease until nearly midnight. The enemy had a very large 
number of heavy howitzers in well-concealed positions. 

"At Braisne the First cavalry division met with consid- 
erable opposition from infantry and machine-guns holding the 
town and guarding the bridge. With the aid of some of our 
infantry it gained possession of the town about midday, driv- 
ing the enemy to the north. Some hundred prisoners were 
captured around Braisne, where the Germans had thrown a 
large amount of field-gun ammunition into the river, where 
it was visible under two feet of water. 

FATEFUL ENCOUNTER BEGINS 

"On our right the French reached the line of the River 
Vesle. On this day began an action along the Aisne which is 
not yet finished, and which may be merely of a rearguard 
nature on a large scale, or may be the commencement of a 
battle of a more serious nature. 

1 ' It rained heavily on Saturday afternoon and all through 
the night, which severely handicapped transport. 

"On Sunday, the 13th, extremely strong resistance was 
encountered by the whole of our front, which was some fifteen 
miles in length. The action still consisted for the most part 
of a long-range gunfire, that of the Germans being to a great 
extent from their heavy howitzers, which were firing from 
cleverly concealed positions. Some of the actual crossings 
of the Aisne were guarded by strong detachments of infantry 
with machine-guns. 

"By nightfall portions of all our three army corps were 
across the river, the cavalry returning to the south side. By 
early next morning, three pontoon bridges had been built, and 
our troops also managed to get across the river by means of 
the bridge carrying the canal over the river. 

"On our left the French pressed on, but were prevented 
by artillery fire from building a pontoon bridge at Soissons. 



824 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

A large number of infantry, however, crossed in single file the 
top girder of the railway bridge left standing. 

"During the last three or four days many isolated parties 
of Germans have been discovered hiding in the numerous 
woods a long way behind our line. As a rule they seemed 
glad to surrender, and the condition of some of them may be 
gathered from the following incident : 

"An officer proceeding along the road in charge of a num- 
ber of led horses received information that there were some 
of the enemy in the neighborhood. He gave the order to 
charge, whereupon three German officers and 106 men surren- 
dered. 

EHEIMS OCCUPIED BY GERMANS 

1 ' Rheims was occupied by the enemy on September 3. It 
was reoccupied by the French after considerable fighting on 
September 13. 

"On the 12th, a proclamation, a copy of which is in the 
possession of the British army, was posted all over the town. 
A literal translation of this poster follows : 

" * Proclamation — In the event of an action being fought 
early today or in the immediate future in the neighborhood 
of Rheims, the inhabitants are warned that they must remain 
absolutely calm and must in no way try to take part in the 
fighting. They must not attempt to attack either isolated 
soldiers or detachments of the German army. The erection 
of barricades, the taking up of paving stones in the streets in 
a way to hinder the movement of troops, or, in a word, any 
action that may embarrass the German army, is formally 
forbidden. 

" 'With an idea to securing adequately the safety of the 
troops and to instill calm into the population of Rheims, the 
persons named below have been seized as hostages by the com- 
mander-in-chief of the German army. These hostages will be 
hanged at the slightest attempt at disorder. Also, the town 
will be totally or partially burned and the inhabitants will be 
hanged for any infraction of the above. 

' ' ' By order of the German authorities. 

( Signed ) " ' The Mayor. ' 

"Here followed the names of eighty-one of the principal 



BATTLE U. THE AISNE 825 

inhabitants of Rheims, with their addresses, including four 
priests, and ending with the words, 'And some others." 



HOW THE BATTLE DEVELOPED 

The following descriptive report from Field Marshal Sir 
John French's headquarters was September 22: 

"At the date of the last narrative. September 14, the Ger- 
mans were making a determined resistance along the River 
Aisne. The opposition has proved to be more serious than 
was anticipated. 

••The action now being fought by the Germans along their 
line is naturally on a scale which, as to extent of ground 
ered and duration of resistance, makes it undistinguishable in 
its progress from what is known as a 'pitched battle.' 

■ • So far as we are concerned, the action still being con- 
tested is the battle of the Aisne. The foe we are fighting is 
just across that river, along the whole of our front to the east 
and west. The struggle is not confined to the valley of that 
river, though it will probably bear its name. 

"On Monday, the 14th, those of our troops which had on 
the previous day crossed the Aisne, after driving in the Ger- 
man rearguards on that evening, found portions of the 
enemy's forces in prepared defensive positions on the r - 
bank and could do little more 1 - score a footing north of 
the river. This, however, they maintained in spite of two 
counter-attacks delivered at dusk and 10 p. m. f in which the 
fighting was severe. 

"During the 14th strong reinforcements of our troops 
were passed to the north bank, the a crossing by ferry, 

by pontoon bridges, and by the remains of permanent brio 1 - - 
Close co-operation with the French forces was maintained 
and the general progress made was good, although the opposi- 
tion was vigorous and the state of the roads, after the heavy 
rain, made movements slow. 

FTEST CORPS MAKES CA.PTL'RE 

"One division alone failed to secure the ground it expected 
to. The First Army Corps, after repulsing repeated attacks, 
captured 600 prisoners and twelve guns. The cavalry also 
took a number of prisoners. 

"There was a heavy rain throughout the night of Sep- 



326 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

tember 14-15 and during the 15th the situation of the British 
forces underwent no essential change. But it became more 
and more evident that the defensive preparations made by 
the enemy were more extensive than was at first apparent. 
The Germans bombarded our lines nearly all day, using heavy 
guns brought, no doubt, from before Maubeuge as well as 
those with the corps. 

"All the German counter-attacks, however, failed, although 
in some places they were repeated six times. One made on 
the Fourth Guards Brigade was repulsed with heavy 
slaughter. 

"Further counter-attacks made during the night were 
beaten off. Rain came on towards evening and continued 
intermittently until 9 a. m., on the 16th. Besides adding to 
the discomfort of the soldiers holding the line, the wet weather 
to some extent hampered the motor transport service, which 
was also hindered by broken bridges. 

"On Wednesday, the 16th, there was little change in the 
situation opposite the British ; the efforts made by the enemy 
were less active than on the previous day, though their bom- 
bardment continued throughout the morning and evening. 

"On Thursday, the 17th, the situation still remained un- 
changed in its essentials. The German heavy artillery fire 
was more active than on the previous day. The only infantry 
attacks made by the enemy were on the extreme right of our 
position, and, as had happened before, they were repulsed 
with heavy loss, chiefly on this occasion by our field artillery. 

NATURE OF THE FIGHTING 

"In order to convey some idea of the nature of the fighting 
it may be said that along the greater part of our front the 
Germans have been driven back from the forward slopes on 
the north of the river. Their infantry are holding strong 
lines of trenches amongst and along the edges of the numerous 
woods which crown the slopes. These trenches are elaborately 
constructed and cleverly concealed. In many places there are 
wiic entanglements and lengths of rabbit fencing. 

"Both woods and open are carefully aligned, so that they 
can be swept by rifle fire and machine-guns, which are invisible 
from our side of the valley. The ground in front of the infan- 
try is also, as a rule, under cross fire from the field artillery 



BATTLE OF THE AISXE 327 

placed on neighboring heights, and under high angle fire 
from pieces placed well back behind the woods on top of the 
plateau. 

"A feature of this action, as of the previous fighting, is the 
use by the enemy of numerous heavy howitzers, with which 
they are able to direct long range fire all over the valley and 
right across it. Upon these they evidently place great reli- 
ance. 

"Where our men are holding the forward edges of the 
high ground on the north side they are now strongly in- 
trenched. They are well fed, and in spite of the wet weather 
of the last week are cheerful and confident. 

HEAVY BOMBAKDMEXT BY EOTH SIDES 

"The bombardment by both sides has been heavy, and on 
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday was practically continuous. 
Nevertheless, in spite of the general din caused by the reports 
of the immense number of heavy guns in action along our front 
en Wednesday, the arrival of the French force acting against 
the German right flank was at once announced on the east of 
our front some miles away by the continuous roar of their 
quick-firing artillery, with which the attack was opened. 

"So far as the British are concerned, the greater part of 
this week has been passed in bombardment, in gaining ground 
by degrees, and in beating back severe counter-attacks with 
heavy slaughter. Our casualties have been severe, but it is 
probable that those of the enemy are heavier. 

"The rain has caused a great drop in the temperature 
and there is more than a distant feeling of autumn in the air. 

"On our right and left the French have been fighting 
fiercely and have been gradually gaining ground. One village 
already has been captured and recaptured twice by each side 
and at the time of writing remains in the hands of the Ger- 
mans. 

"The fighting has been at close quarters and of the most 
desperate nature, and the streets of the village are filled with 
dead of both sides. 

CHEEKING MESSAGE TO THE FKEXCH 

"As an example of the spirit which is inspiring our allies 
the following translation of an Ordre du Jour (order of the 



328 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

day), published on September 9, after the battle of Mont- 
mirail, by the conimander of the French Fifth Army, is given : 

" 'Soldiers: Upon the memorable fields of Montinirail, 
of Vauchamps, of Champaubert, which a century ago wit- 
nessed the victories of our ancestors over Bliicher's Prussians, 
your vigorous offensive has triumphed over the resistance of 
the Germans. Held on his flanks, his center broken, the enemy 
now is retreating towards the east and north by forced 
marches. The most renowned army corps of old Prussia, the 
contingents of Westphalia, of Hanover, of Brandenburg, have 
retired in haste before you. 

" 'This first success is no more than the prelude. The 
enemy is shaken but not yet decisively beaten. You have still 
to undergo severe hardships, to make long marches, to fight 
hard battles. May the image of our country, soiled by bar- 
barians, always remain before your eyes ! Never was it more 
necessary to sacrifice all for her. 

" 'Saluting the heroes who have fallen in the fighting of 
the last few days, my thoughts turn toward you, the victors in 
the last battle. Forward, soldiers, for France!' 

LETTER FROM A GERMAN SOLDIER 

' ' So many letters and statements of our wounded soldiers 
have been published in our newspapers that the following 
epistle from a German soldier of the Seventy -fourth Infantry 
regiment, Tenth Corps, to his wife also may be of interest : 

' ' ' My Dear Wife : I have just been living through days 
that defy imagination. I should never have thought that men 
could stand it. Not a second has passed but my life has been 
In danger, and yet not a hair of my head has been hurt. 

" 'It was horrible; it was ghastly, but I have been saved 
for you and for our happiness, and I take heart again, although 
I am still terribly unnerved. God grant that I may see you 
again soon and that this horror may soon be over. 

" 'None of us can do any more; human strength is at an 
end. I will try to tell you about it. On September 5 the 
enemy were reported to be taking up a position near St. Prix, 
southeast of Paris. The Tenth Corps, which had made an 
astonishingly rapid advance of course, was attacked on Sun- 
day. 

" 'Steep slopes led up to the heights, which were held in 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 329 

considerable force. With our weak detachments of the Sev- 
enty-fourth and Ninety-first regiments we reached the crest 
and came under a terrible artillery fire that mowed us down. 
However, we entered St. Prix. Hardly had we done so than 
we were met with shell fire and a violent fusillade from the 
enemy's infantry. Our colonel was badly wounded — he is the 
third we have had. Fourteen men were killed around me. 
We got away in a lull without my being hit. 

' ' ' The 7th, 8th, and 9th of September we were constantly 
under shell and shrapnel fire and suffered terrible losses. I 
was in a house which was hit several times. The fear of 
death, of agony, which is in every man's heart, and naturally 
so, is a terrible feeling. How often I have thought of you, 
my darling, and what I suffered in that terrifying battle 
which extended along a front of many miles near Montmirail, 
you cannot possibly imagine. 

" 'Our heavy artillery was being used for the siege of 
Maubeuge. We wanted it badly, as the enemy had theirs in 
force and kept up a furious bombardment. For four days I 
was under artillery fire. It was like hell, but a thousand times 
worse. 

' ' ' On the night of the 9th the order was given to retreat, 
as it would have been madness to attempt to hold our position 
with our few men, and we should have risked a terrible defeat 
the next day. The first and third armies had not been able 
to attack with us, as we had advanced too rapidly. Our morale 
was absolutely broken; in spite of unheard-of sacrifices we 
had achieved nothing. 

" *I cannot understand how our army, after fighting three 
great battles and being terribly weakened, was sent against 
a position which the enemy had prepared for three weeks, but, 
naturally, I know nothing of the intentions of our chiefs ; they 
say nothing has been lost. 

" i In a word, we retired towards Cormontreuil and Rheims 
by forced marches by day and night. We hear that three 
armies are going to get into line, intrench and rest, and then 
start afresh our victorious march on Paris. It was not a 
defeat, only a strategic retreat. I have confidence in our 
chiefs that everything will be successful. 

i l i Our first battalion, which has fought with unparalleled 



330 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

bravery, is reduced from 1,200 to 194 men. These numbers 
speak for themselves.' " 



EVENTS FROM SEPTEMBER 21 TO 24 

The next report from the official chronicler at the front, 
dated September 24, was in part as follows : 

"The enemy is still maintaining himself along the whole 
front, and in order to do so is throwing into the fight detach- 
ments composed of units from the different formations, the 
active army, reserve, and landwehr, as is shown by the uni- 
forms of prisoners recently captured. 

"Our progress, although slow on account of the strength 
of the defensive positions against which we are pressing, has 
in certain directions been continuous, but the present battle 
may well last for some days more before a decision is reached, 
since it now approximates nearly to siege warfare. 

' ' The nature of the general situation after the operations 
of the 18th, 19th, and 20th, cannot better be summarized than 
as expressed recently by a neighboring French commander to 
his corps: 'Having repulsed repeated and violent counter- 
attacks made by the enemy, we have a feeling that we have 
been victorious.' 

"So far as the British are concerned, the course of events 
during these three days can be described in a few words. Dur- 
ing Friday, the 18th, artillery fire was kept up intermittently 
by both sides during daylight. At night the Germans counter- 
attacked certain portions of our line, supporting the advance 
of their infantry as always by a heavy bombardment. But 
the strokes were not delivered with great vigor and ceased 
about 2 a. m. During the day's fighting an aircraft gun of 
the Third Army Corps succeeded in bringing down a German 
aeroplane. 

ARTILLERY FIRE BECOMES MONOTONOUS 

"On Saturday, the 19th, the bombardment was resumed 
by the Germans at an early hour and continued intermittently 
under reply from our guns, which is a matter of normal 
routine rather than an event. 

"Another hostile aeroplane was brought down by us, and 
one of our aviators succeeded in dropping several bombs over 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 331 

the German line, one incendiary bomb falling with considerable 
effect on a transport park near LaFere. 

"A buried store of the enemy's munitions of war also was 
found not far from the Aisne, ten wagonloads of live shells 
and two wagons of cable being dug up. Traces were discov- 
ered of large quantities of stores having been burned — all 
tending to show that as far back as the Aisne the German 
retirement was hurried. 

"On Sunday, the 20th, nothing of importance occurred 
until the afternoon, when there was an interval of feeble sun- 
shine, which was hardly powerful enough to warm the soaking 
troops. The Germans took advantage of this brief spell of 
fine weather to make several attacks against different points. 
These were all repulsed with loss to the enemy, but the casual- 
ties incurred by us were by no means light. 

"The offensive against one or two points was renewed at 
dusk, with no greater success. The brunt of the resistance 
naturally has fallen on the infantry. In spite of the fact that 
they have been drenched to the skin for some days and their 
trenches have been deep in mud and water, and in spite of the 
incessant night alarms and the almost continuous bombard- 
ment to which they have been subjected, they have on every 
occasion been ready for the enemy 's infantry when the latter 
attempted to assault. Indeed, the sight of the troops coming 
up has been a positive relief after long, trying hours of inac- 
tion under shell fire. 

OBJECT OF GERMAN" ATTACKS 

"The object of the great proportion of artillery the Ger- 
mans employ is to beat down the resistance of their enemy by 
concentrated and prolonged fire — to shatter their nerve with 
high explosives before the infantry attack is launched. They 
seem to have relied on doing this with us, but they have not 
done so, though it has taken them several costly experiments 
to discover this fact. 

"From statements of prisoners, it appears that they have 
been greatly disappointed by the moral effect produced by 
their heavy guns, which, despite the actual losses inflicted, 
has not been at all commensurate with the colossal expendi- 
ture of ammunition which has really been wasted. 

"By this it is not implied that their artillery fire is not 



332 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

good. It is more than good — it is excellent. But the British 
soldier is a difficult person to impress or depress, even by 
immense shells filled with a high explosive, which detonate 
with terrific violence and form craters large enough to act as 
graves for five horses. 

1 ' The German howitzer shells are from eight to nine inches 
in calibre, and on impact they send up columns of greasy black 
smoke. On account of this they are irreverently dubbed 'coal 
boxes,' 'Black Marias,' or 'Jack Johnsons' by the soldiers. 

"Men who take things in this spirit are, it seems, likely to 
throw out the calculations based on loss of morale so care- 
fully framed by the German military philosophers. 

"The German losses in officers are stated by our prisoners 
to have been especially severe. A brigade is stated to be 
commanded by a major; some companies of foot guards by 
one-year volunteers ; while after the battle of Montmirail one 
regiment lost fifty-five out of sixty officers. 

LETTER FOUND ON GERMAN OFFICER 

"The following letter, which refers to the fighting on the 
Aisne and was found on a German officer of the Seventh 
Reserve Corps, has been printed and circulated to the troops : 

' ' ' Cerny, South of Paris, Sept. 17. — My Dear Parents : — 
Our corps has the task of holding the heights south of Cerny 
in all circumstances till the Fourteenth Corps on our left 
flank can grip the enemy's flank. On our right are other 
corps. We are fighting with the English guards, Highlanders 
and Zouaves. The losses on both sides have been enormous. 
For the most part this is due to the too-brilliant French 
artillery. 

' ' ' The English are marvelously trained in making use of 
ground. One never sees them and one is constantly under fire. 
The French airmen perform wonderful feats. We cannot get 
rid of them. As soon as an airman has flown over us, ten 
minutes later we get shrapnel fire in our position. We have 
little artillery in our corps ; without it we cannot get forward. 

" 'Three days ago our division took possession of these 
heights and dug itself in. Two days ago, early in the morn- 
ing, we were attacked by immensely superior English forces — 
one brigade and two battalions — and were turned out of our 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 333 

positions. The fellows took five guns from us. It was a tre- 
mendous hand-to-hand fight. 

" 'How I escaped myself I am not clear. I then had to 
bring up support on foot. My horse was wounded and the 
others were too far in the rear. Then came up the Guard 
Jager Battalion, Fourth Jager, Sixth Regiment, Reserve Regi- 
ment Thirteen, and Landwehr Regiments Thirteen and Six- 
teen, and, with the help of the artillery, we drove the fellows 
out of the position again. Our machine-guns did excellent 
work; the English fell in heaps. 

' ' ' In our battalion three iron crosses have been given. Let 
us hope that we shall be the lucky ones the next time. 

" 'During the first two days of the battle I had only one 
piece of bread and no water. I spent the night in the rain 
without my greatcoat. The rest of my kit was on the horses, 
which have been left miles behind with the baggage and which 
cannot come up into the battle because as soon as you put your 
nose up from behind cover the bullets whistle. 

' ' ' War is terrible ! We are all hoping that a decisive battle 
will end the war. Our troops already have got round Paris. 
If we beat the English the French resistance will soon be 
broken. Russia will be very quickly dealt with ; of this there 
is no doubt. 

" 'We have received splendid help from the Austrian 
heavy artillery at Maubeuge. They bombarded Fort Cerfon- 
taine in such a way that there was not ten meters of parapet 
which did not show enormous craters made by the shells. 
The armored turrets were found upside down. 

" 'Yesterday evening about 6, in the valley in which our 
reserves stood, there was such a terrible cannonade that we 
saw nothing of the sky but a cloud of smoke. We had few 
casualties. ' 

TELEPHONE AN AID TO SPIES 

"Espionage is carried on by the enemy to a considerable 
extent. Recently the suspicions of some of the French troops 
were aroused by coming across a farm from which the horses 
had been removed. After some search they discovered a tele- 
phone which was connected by an underground cable with the 
German lines, and the owner of the farm paid the penalty in 
the usual way in war for his treachery. 



334 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

" After some cases of village fighting, which occurred ear- 
lier in the war, it was reported by some of our officers that the 
Germans had attempted to approach to close quarters by forc- 
ing prisoners to march in front of them. The Germans have 
recently repeated the same trick on a larger scale against the 
French, as is shown by the copy of an order issued by the 
French officials. It is therein referred to as a ruse, but if that 
term can be accepted, it is a distinctly illegal ruse. 

REFERS TO RHEIMS CATHEDRAL 

"Full details of the actual damage done to the cathedral 
at Rheims will doubtless have been cabled, so that no descrip- 
tion of it is necessary. The Germans bombarded the cathe- 
dral twice with their heavy artillery. 

1 ' One reason it caught fire so quickly was that on one side 
of it was some scaffolding which had been erected for restora- 
tion work. Straw had also been laid on the floor for the recep- 
tion of German wounded. It is to the credit of the French 
that practically all the German wounded were successfully 
extricated from the burning building. 

"There was no justification on military grounds for this 
act of vandalism, which seems to have been caused by exas- 
peration born of failure — a sign of impotence rather than of 
strength." 



FIVE MORE DAYS OF BATTLE 

On September 29 Field Marshal French's headquarters 
reported as follows: 

"The general situation as viewed on the map remains 
practically the same as that described in the last letter, and 
the task of the army has not changed. It is to maintain itself 
until there is a general resumption of the offensive. 

"No ground has been lost. Some has been gained, and 
every counter-attack has been repulsed — in certain instances 
with very severe losses to the enemy. 

"Of recent events an actual narrative will be carried on 
from the 25th to 29th, inclusive. During the whole of this 
period the weather has remained fine. 

"On Friday, the 25th, comparative quiet reigned in our 
sphere of action. The only incident worthy of special mention 
was the passage of a German aeroplane over the interior of 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 335 

our lines. It was flying high, but drew a general fusillade 
from below, with the result that the pilot was killed outright 
and the observer was wounded. The latter was captured by 
the French. 

' ' That night a general attack was made against the greater 
part of the Allies' position, and it was renewed in the early 
morning of Saturday, the 2Gth. The Germans were every- 
where repulsed with loss. Indeed, opposite one portion of our 
lines, where they were caught in mass by our machine-guns 
and howitzers firing at different ranges, it is estimated that 
they left 1,000 killed or wounded. 

"The mental attitude of our troops may be gauged from 
the fact that the official report next morning from one corps, 
of which one division had borne the brunt of the fighting, ran 
thus laconically: 'The night was quiet except for a certain 
amount of shelling both from the enemy and ourselves. ' 

AN ALL-DAY ATTACK 

" At 3 :40 a. m. an attack was made on our right. At 5 a. m. 

there was a general attack on the right of the th division, 

but no really heavy firing. Further ineffectual efforts to drive 
us back were made at 8 a. m. and in the afternoon, and the 
artillery fire continued all day. 

"The Germans came on in 'T' formation, several lines 
shoulder to shoulder, followed almost immediately by a column 
in support. After a very few minutes the men had closed up 
into a mob, which afforded an excellent target for our fire. 

"On Sunday, the 27th, while the German heavy guns were 
in action, their brass bands could be heard playing hymn tunes, 
presumably at divine service. 

"The enemy made an important advance on part of our 
line at 6 p. m., and renewed it in strength at one point, with, 
however, no better success than on the previous night. Snip- 
ing continued all day along the whole front. 

"On Monday, the 28th, there was nothing more severe than 
a bombardment and intermittent sniping, and this inactivity 
continued during Tuesday, the 29th, except for a night attack 
against our extreme right. 

A TYPICAL BATTLE INCIDENT 

"An incident that occurred Sunday, the 27th, serves to 
illustrate the type of fighting that has for the last two weeks 



336 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

been going on intermittently on various parts of our lines. It 
also brings out the extreme difficulty of ascertaining what is 
actually happening during an action apart from what seems 
to be happening, and points to the value of good intrench- 
ments. 

"At a certain point in our front our advance trenches were 
on the north of the Aisne, not far from a village on a hillside 
and also within a short distance of German works, being on a 
slope of a spur formed by a subsidiary valley running north 
and a main valley of the river. It was a calm, sunny after- 
noon, but hazy, and from our point of vantage south of the 
river it was difficult exactly to locate on the far bank the well- 
concealed trenches. 

"From far and near the sullen boom of guns echoed along 
the valley, and at intervals in a different direction the sky 
was flecked with the almost motionless smoke of anti-aircraft 
shrapnel. 

1 ' Suddenly and without any warning, for the reports of the 
distant howitzers from which they were fired could not be dis- 
tinguished from other distant reports, three or four heavy 
shells fell into the village, sending up huge clouds of dust 
and smoke, which ascended in a brownish-gray column. To 
this no reply was made by our side. 

"Shortly afterwards there was a quick succession of re- 
ports from a point some distance up the subsidiary valley on 
the side opposite our trenches and therefore rather on their 
flank. It was not possible either by ear or by eye to locate the 
guns from which the sounds proceeded. Almost simultaneously, 
as it seemed, there was a corresponding succession of flashes 
and sharp detonations in the line along the hillside along what 
appeared to be our trenches. 

"There was then a pause and several clouds of smoke 
rose slowly and remained stationary, spaced as regularly as 
poplars. 

"Again there was a succession of reports from German 
quick-firers on the far side of the misty valley and like echoes 
of detonations of high explosives ; then the row of expanding 
smoke clouds was prolonged by several new ones. Another 
pause and silence, except for the noise in the distance. 

"After a few minutes there was a roar from our side of 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 837 

the main valley as our field guns opened one after another in 
a more deliberate fire upon the positions of the German guns. 
After six reports there was again silence save for the whirr 
of shells as they sang up the small valley. Then followed 
flashes and balls of smoke — one, two, three, four, five, six — as 
the shrapnel burst nicely over what in the haze looked like 
some ruined buildings at the edge of the wood. 

TRYING TO ENFILADE THE TRENCHES 

" Again, after a short interval, the enemy's gunners re- 
opened with a burst, still further prolonging the smoke, which 
was by now merged into one solid screen above a considerable 
length of the trenches and again did our guns reply. And so 
the duel went on for some time. 

"Ignoring our guns, the German artillerymen, probably 
relying on concealment for immunity, were concentrating all 
their efforts in a particularly forceful effort to enfilade our 
trenches. For them it must have appeared to be the chance 
of a lifetime, and with their customary prodigality of ammuni- 
tion they continued to pour bouquet after bouquet of high 
explosives or combined shrapnel and common shells into our 
works. 

"Occasionally, with a roar, a high angle projectile would 
sail over the hill and blast a gap in the village. One could 
only pray that our men holding the trenches had dug them- 
selves in deep and well, and that those in the village were in 
cellars. 

"In the hazy valleys, bathed in sunlight, not a man, not a 
horse, not a gun, nor even a trench was to be seen. There 
were only flashes, and smoke, and noise. Above, against the 
blue sky, several round, white clouds were hanging. The only 
two visible human souls were represented by a glistening speck 
in the air. On high also were to be heard more or less gentle 
reports of the anti-aircraft projectiles. 

"But the deepest impression created was one of sympathy 
for the men subjected to the bursts along that trench. Upon 
inquiry as to the losses sustained, however, it was found that 
our men had been able to take care of themselves and had dug 
themselves well in. In that collection of trenches on that 
Sunday afternoon were portions of four battalions of British 



338 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

soldiers — the Dorsets, the West Kents, the King's Own York- 
shire light infantry, and the King's Own Scottish Borderers." 



AEMIES IN A DEADLOCK 

Later reports from the Aisne valley, up to October 17, 
when the big battle had been five weeks in progress, indicated 
little change in the general situation. Bombardments and 
artillery duels, varied by general attacks, occurred daily all 
along the line. The main positions of both armies were firmly 
held, though the French had gained some ground north of 
Rheims and continually threatened the German center. The 
left of the Allies' line had crept north to and beyond Arras, 
where there was severe fighting for several days ; and at the 
end of the thirty-fifth day of the battle of the Rivers the lines 
of the opposing armies extended almost continuously from 
beyond Arras on the northwest, south in a great curve to the 
Aisne valley, thence east to Verdun, where the Crown Prince's 
army kept hammering away at that fortress without success, 
and thence southwest to Nancy and the Alsatian border. 

By this time the armies of the center were in a species of 
deadlock. The strain on both sides had long promised to get 
beyond human endurance and the antagonists of the Aisne 
were likened by a French officer to two exhausted pugilists, 
who would soon be unable to inflict further punishment upon 
each other. But there was no sign of "throwing up the 
sponge" on either side, though beyond the actual sphere of 
conflict it was felt that ' ' something must give way soon. ' ' 



A BLAZING VALE OF DEATH 

Writing on September 16, the fourth day of the battle, a 
special correspondent behind the British lines by Senlis and 
Chantilly, said : 

"I have passed through a smiling land to a land wearing 
the mask of death; through harvest fields rich with great 
stacks snugly builded against the winter to the fields of a 
braver harvest; by jocund villages where there is no break in 
the ebb and flow of everyday life to villages and towns that 
despoiling hands have shattered in ruins. 

"And I have passed up this Via Dolorosa toward the very 
harvesting itself — toward those great plains stretching away 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 339 

on the banks of the River Aisne, where the second act of this 
drama of battles is at this moment being played. 

"Details of this fight, which, as I write, reaches its fourth 
day of duration, are very scanty, but partly from personal 
observation and partly from information which has reached 
me I know that the struggle so far has been a terrible one, 
equal to, if not greater than, the struggle on the banks of the 
Marne. 

"The events of Monday (September 14) revealed a foe bat- 
tling desperately for his life ; and this defense of General von 
Kluck's army demanded of the Allies their utmost strength 
and determination. 

"Picture this battlefield, which will assuredly take its place 
with that of the Marne as one of the greatest combats of the 
greatest war. Through the middle of it flows the great river, 
passing from the east to the west. The banks of the river here 
are very steep. Above the plain, which sweeps away from the 
northern bank, rises the ' ' massif ' ' of Laon. It is an ideal area 
for great movements and for artillery work directed upon the 
valley of the river. Passing eastward a little, there are the 
heights behind the city of Rheims and above the Vesle, a tribu- 
tary of the Aisne. Here again nature has builded a strong- 
hold easy to defend, difficult exceedingly to attack. 

"I know of heroic work against these great lines, work 
that will live with the most momentous of this struggle. I 
know of smashing attacks the thought of which takes one's 
breath away. I have heard narratives of the trenches and of 
the bridges — these engineers, French and English, have indeed 
'played the game' — which no man can hear unmoved ; how the 
columns went down again and again to the blazing death of 
the valley, and how men worked, building and girding in a 
very inferno — worked with the furious speed of those whose 
time of work is short. 

HEROISM IN THE TRENCHES 

"And in the trenches, too, the tale of heroism unfolds itself 
hour by hour. Here is an example, one among ten thousand, 
the story of a wounded private : 'We lay together, my friend 
and I. . . . The order to fire came. We shot and shot till 
our rifles burned us. Still they swarmed on towards us. We 
took careful aim all the while. "Ah, good, did you see that?" 



840 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

I turned to my friend and as I did so heard a terrible dull 
sound like a spade striking upon newly turned earth. His 
head was fallen forward. I spoke, I called him by name. He 
was moaning a little. Then I turned to my work again. They 
are advancing quickly now. Ah ! how cool I was. I shot so 
slowly, ... so very slowly. 

" 'And then — do you know what it feels like to be 
wounded? I rose just a little too high on my elbow. A sting 
that pierces my arm like a hot wire — too sharp almost to be 
sore. I felt my arm go away from me — it seemed like that — 
and then my rifle fell. I believe I was a little dazed. I looked 
at my friend presently. He was dead. ' 

THE GRIM STORY OF SENLIS 

''So, on these green river banks and across these fair 
wooded plains the Germans make their great stand — the stand 
that if they are defeated will be their last in France. And 
meanwhile behind them lie the wasted fields and the broken 
villages. It is impossible adequately to describe the scenes 
which I have witnessed on the line of the great retreat, but 
here and there events have had place, which, in truth, cry to 
high heaven for report. Of such is the grim story of Senlis. 

' ' I spent many hours in Senlis and I will recount that story 
as I saw it and as I heard it from those who lived through the 
dreadful procession of days. On Saturday, September 5, the 
Germans reached this beautiful old cathedral town and entered 
into occupation. They issued a proclamation to the inhab- 
itants calling upon them to submit and to offer no sort of 
resistance on pain of severe reprisals. 

"But the inhabitants of Senlis had already tasted the 
bitter draft of war making. The people had become bitter 
to the point of losing care of their own safety. They were 
reckless, driven to distraction. 

"Bitter was the price exacted for the recklessness! The 
trouble began when, exasperated beyond measure by their 
insolence, a brave tobacconist declared to a couple of the Prus- 
sians: 'I serve men, not bullies.' He followed his words 
with a blow delivered fiercely from the shoulder. 

"The infuriated soldiers dragged him from his shop and 
hurled him on his knees in front of the door. His wife rushed 
out shrieking for mercy. Mercy ! As well ask it of a stone ! 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 341 

A shot rang out. . . . Another. . . . Man and wife 
lay dead. 

" Immediately the news of this murderous act flew through 
the town. Outraged and furious, the conquerors marched in- 
stantly to the house of the mayor — their hostage — and 
arrested him. They conveyed him without a moment's delay 
to the military headquarters, where he was imprisoned for the 
night. On Wednesday morning a court-martial sat to decide 
his fate. A few minutes later this brave man paid for the 
indiscretion of his people with his life, dying splendidly. 

"And then guns were turned on this town of living men 
and women and children. Shells crashed into the houses, into 
the shops, into the station. At Chantilly, seven kilometers 
away, the amazed inhabitants saw a great column of black 
smoke curl up into the air; they guessed the horrible truth. 
Senlis was burning. 

"The work, however, was interrupted. At midday the 
glad tidings were heard, 'The Turcos are here.' "Within the 
hour broken and blazing Senlis was re-relieved and rescued. 
The Turcos pursued and severely punished the enemy. 

"Today these streets are terrible to look upon. House 
after house has been shattered to pieces — broken to a pile of 
stones. One of the small turrets of the cathedral has been 
demolished, and a rent has been torn in the stone work of the 
tower. The station is like a wilderness. ' ' 

RHEIMS CATHEDRAL DAMAGED 

A correspondent gives a vivid account of the German bom- 
bardment of Rheims, during the battle on the Aisne, as viewed 
by him from the belfry of the famous cathedral. 

"What a spectacle it was!" he said. "Under the cold, 
drifting gray rainclouds the whole semicircle of the horizon 
was edged by heights on which the German batteries were 
mounted, three miles away. 

"There was nothing but the inferno of bursting shells, 
those of the Germans landing anywhere within the space of 
a square mile. Sometimes it was just outside the town that 
they fell, trying to find the French troops lying there in their 
trenches, waiting to go forward to the attack of the hills, when 
their artillery should have prepared the way. 

"The cathedral tower made a wonderful grand stand from 



342 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

which to watch this appalling game of destruction. It was 
under the protection of the Red Cross flag, for directly the 
shells began to hit the cathedral in the morning some German 
wounded were brought in from a hospital nearby and laid on 
straw in the nave, while Abbe Andreaux and a Red Cross sol- 
dier pluckily climbed to the top of the tower and hung out two 
Geneva flags. 

"The crescendo scream the shells make has something 
fiendish in it that would be thrilling apart from the danger 
of which it is the sign. You hear it a full second before the 
shell strikes, and in that time you can tell instinctively the 
direction of its flight. 

"Then comes the crash of the explosion, which is like all 
the breakages you ever heard gathered into one simultaneous 
smash. ' ' 

SAVING THE GERMAN WOUNDED 

A few of the German shells struck the cathedral and set it 
on fire. The scene was thus described by Abbe Camu, a priest 
of Rheims : 

"It was all over in an hour. There were two separate 
fires. We put the first out with four buckets of water, all we 
had in the place, but soon another shell struck the roof and the 
wind drove the flames along the rafters inside of the nave. We 
rushed up, but it was flaming all along and as we could do 
nothing, we hurried down. 

"There were holes in the ceiling of the nave and sparks 
began to fall through them into a great heap of straw, ten 
feet high and twenty yards long, which the Germans had piled 
along the north aisle. We tried to catch the sparks in our 
hands as they fell, and such of the German wounded as were 
able to walk helped us. But the first spark that fell on the 
pile set it blazing. There was time to think of nothing but 
getting out the wounded. 

1 ' They screamed horribly. We carried many of those that 
could not walk, while others dragged themselves painfully 
along to the side door in the north aisle. Those who had 
only hand and arm wounds helped their comrades. We got 
out all except thirteen, whose bodies were left behind. 

"When at last I came out of the flaming building I found 
the whole body of wounded huddled together around the doors. 



BATTLE OF THE AISNE 343 

Opposite to them was a furiously hostile crowd of civilians of 
the town and a number of soldiers with their rifles already 
leveled. 

"I sprang forward. 'What are you doing?' I cried. 

" 'They shall all burn,' shouted the soldiers in answer. 
'They shall go back and burn with the cathedral or we will 
shoot them here.' 

" 'You are mad!' I exclaimed in reply. 'Think of what 
this means. All the world will hear of the crime the Germans 
have committed here, and if you shoot these men the world 
will know that France has been as criminal in her turn. Any- 
how,' I said, 'you shall shoot me first, for I will not move.' 

' ' Unwillingly the soldiers lowered their rifles and I turned 
to six German officers who were among the wounded and asked 
if they would do what I told them to. They said they would 
and I asked them to tell their men to do the same. Then I 
formed them up in a solid body, those who could walk unaided 
carrying or helping those who could not. I put myself at the 
head and we set off to the Hotel de Ville, which is only a few 
hundred yards away. 

"Well, then the crowd, mad with grief and rage, set on us. 
I can't describe it. You have never seen anything so dreadful 
as that scene. They beat some of the Germans and some of 
them they got down. 

" 'Can't you help me?' I called to a French officer I caught 
sight of. 

" 'You will never get to the Hotel de Ville like this,' he 
replied, so I forced my wounded through the gateway of a 
private house and we managed to close the gates after us. 

' ' They had been roughly handled, some of them, and they 
stayed there a day and a night before we could move them 
again. ' ' 

[The damage done to the cathedral at Rheims, by the way, 
though by no means slight, inexpressibly sad arid truly re- 
grettable, was not nearly so great as was indicated by many 
early reports. The friends of architectural art and beauty 
hope to see the cathedral fully restored at no distant date.] 
"slatjghtek" at soissons 

Much of the fighting during the battle of the Aisne cen- 
tered around Soissons. On September 16 a correspondent 
described the fighting there as follows: 



344 BATTLE OF THE AISNE 

"For the last three hours I have been watching from the 
hills to the south of the town that part of the terrific struggle 
that may be known in history as the battle of Soissons. 

"It has lasted for four days, and only now can it be said 
that victory is turning to the side of the Allies. 

"The town itself cannot be entered for it still is being 
raked both by artillery and rifle fire, and great columns of 
smoke mark several points at which houses are burning. 

"The center of the fighting lies where the British and 
French pontoon corps are trying to keep the bridges they 
have succeeded in throwing across the river. 

"Men who have come from the front line tell me that the 
combat there has been a positive slaughter. They say that 
the unremitting and desperate firing of these four days and 
nights puts anything else in modern warfare into the shade, 
that river crossings are as great an objective on one side to 
take and keep as on the other to destroy." 

SEVEN DAYS OP HELL 

A wounded soldier, on being brought back to the hospital 
at Paris, after only one week in the valley of the Aisne, said 
in a dazed sort of way : 

"Each day was like the others. It began at 6 o'clock in 
the morning with heavy shellfire. There was a short interval 
at which it stopped, about 5 :30 every day. Then in the night 
came the charges, and one night I couldn't count them. It 
was awful — kill, kill, kill, and still they came on, shoving one 
another over on to us. Seven days and nights of it and some 
nights only an hour's sleep ; it was just absolute hell !" 

None of the wounded found another word to describe the 
battle and the sight of the men bore it out. Muddied to the 
eyes, wet, often with blood caked on them, many were suffering 
from the curious aphasia produced by continued trouble and 
the concussion of shells bursting. Some were dazed and 
speechless, some deafened, and yet, strange to say, said a 
correspondent, no face wore the terrible animal war look. 
They seemed to have been softened, instead of hardened, by 
their awful experience. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

FALL OF ANTWERP 

Great Seaport of Belgium Besieged by a Large German 
Force — Forts Battered by Heavy Siege Guns — Final 
Surrender of the City — Belgian and British Defenders 
Escape — Exodus of Inhabitants — Germans Reach the 
Sea. 

WHEN the battle of the Marne ended in favor of the Allies 
and the Germans retired to take up a defensive position 
along the Aisne, the Belgian army renewed its activities 
against the invader. With the fortified city of Antwerp as 
their base, the Belgians began (on September 10) an active 
campaign, having for its object the reoccupation of their cities 
and towns which had been taken and garrisoned by German 
troops. In some cases they were successful in regaining pos- 
session of points which they had been forced to abandon dur- 
ing the German advance in August, and there were many hot 
encounters with the Germans who were left to hold open the 
German lines of communication through Belgium. But the 
forces of the Kaiser were too numerous and too mobile for 
successful opposition, and soon the Belgian army, despite the 
most gallant efforts, was compelled once more to retire behind 
the outer forts of Antwerp and there await the coming of an 
enemy who was approaching in force. 

For, halted at the Aisne and unable to make headway 
against the Allies in the direction of Paris, the German general 
staff late in September determined upon the complete conquest 
of Belgium. Though at the outset it was said that Germany 
intended only to use Belgian territory as a convenient thor- 
oughfare into France, and to pay for all damage done by its 
army in passing through Belgium, the determined resistance 

345 



346 FALL OF ANTWERP 

of the Belgians when invaded, and the success of the Allies 
in halting the advance upon Paris and turning it into a 
retreat at the Marne, appear to have inflamed the German 
generals with a desire to crush Belgium completely under an 
iron heel. An object lesson of the power and possibilities of 
the great fighting machine must be given somewhere. Halted 
in France by the Franco-British armies and meeting with 
varying fortunes against the Russian hosts in the eastern 
campaign, Germany chose to make Belgium once more the 
international cockpit and hurled an army against Antwerp. 
This move, if successful (as it proved to be) would serve two 
purposes — first, the further punishment of Belgium for her 
unexpected resistance, and second, the striking of a direct 
blow at Great Britain, the possession of Antwerp being 
strategically regarded as ' ' a pistol leveled at the head of 
London. ' '■ 

THE SIEGE OF ANTWERP 

In the third week of September the Germans, having 
massed a force believed to be sufficient for the capture of 
Antwerp, brought up their heavy Krupp siege guns which 
had been used successfully at Liege and Namur, and planted 
them within their seven-mile range, so as to command the 
outer belt of forts east and south of the city. [See map of 
the fortifications of Antwerp on page 102.] These huge how- 
itzers were reinforced by heavy siege guns furnished by Aus- 
tria. The fortification system of Antwerp was believed by 
its builders to be practically impregnable, but they had not 
reckoned with the tremendous shattering power and great 
range of the latest Krupp siege guns. For Antwerp was 
destined to fall, her outer and inner defenses broken down, 
within ten days from the time the siege began in earnest. 

BRITISH MARINES AID DEFENDERS 

The number of German troops engaged before Antwerp 
was variously estimated at from 80,000 to 200,000. The siege 
proper began on Tuesday, September 29. For more than a 
week previously there had been daily engagements in the 
suburbs of the city and on several occasions the Belgians 
made a sortie in force, only to encounter overwhelming num- 
bers of the German enemy, before whom they were compelled 



FALL OF ANTWERP 347 

to retire behind the shelter of the forts. In all these engage- 
ments the Belgians gave a good account of themselves and 
inflicted severe losses on the enemy. But the odds against 
them were too great and then when the great siege guns 
began to thunder, it was soon realized that the city was in 
imminent danger. 

King Albert did all in his power to encourage the defense 
and by his presence among his troops on the firing lines around 
the city added greatly to his reputation as a patriotic soldier. 
A force of several thousand British marines, coming from 
Ostend, aided the Belgian defense in the last days of the 
siege, but all efforts were unavailing. One by one the forts 
succumbed to the German fire with which the Belgian guns 
could not cope, and German troops penetrated nearer and 
nearer to the doomed city. 

Finally, on October 9, w T hen the inhabitants were in a state 
of terror as a result of the long-continued bombardment of the 
forts, and the shelling of the city, further resistance was seen 
to be useless, the defending forces, Belgian and British, made 
their escape to Ostend or into the neutral territory of Holland, 
the city formally capitulated through the Burgomaster, and 
occupation by the Germans followed immediately. The bulk 
of the British marines made their way back to Ostend, but 
a rearguard, consisting of 2,000 British, together with some 
Belgians, was cut off by the advance of the Germans across 
the Scheldt, and rather than surrender to them marched 
across the border into Holland and surrendered arms to the 
Dutch authorities. The men were interned and will be held 
in Holland till the end of the war. It is probable that this 
rearguard was deliberately sacrificed to enable the Anglo- 
Belgian army to make good its retreat. 

The fate of Antwerp shows what might have happened to 
Paris had the Germans been able to bring up their great siege 
guns to the outer fortifications of the French capital and pro- 
tect them while they performed their tremendous task of 
battering the defenses to pieces. The wrecking of Antwerp's 
outer and inner forts in ten days proves that solid, massive 
concrete, chilled steel and well-planned earthworks afford 
little or no security against the monstrous cannon of the Kai- 



348 FALL OF ANTWERP 

ser's armies. There appeared to be but one way of with- 
standing them. 

As seems to have been demonstrated in the valley of the 
Aisne, they are apparently ineffective against field forces 
deeply intrenched in a far-flung line. 

THE FIGHTING OUTSIDE ANTWEEP 

Early on Tuesday morning, October 6, one of the fiercest 
of the engagements outside Antwerp ended with the crossing 
of the Kiver Nethe by the Germans and their approach to the 
inner forts. Monday had been the sixth day of the siege and 
the Belgian army was fighting with reckless courage to save 
Antwerp. As a precaution, the boilers of all the German 
ships lying in the harbor were exploded on Sunday, in order 
to prevent, if possible, use of these ships as transports for 
German troops across the North Sea or elsewhere. The det- 
onation of the bursting boilers, resounding through the city, 
set the excited Sunday crowd very near to a panic. This was 
accelerated by the constant fear of airship attacks, and most 
of the population that was not already in active flight from the 
city sought safety in cellars. 

The entire war has presented no greater picture of desola- 
tion than that of the hosts fleeing from the last Belgian 
stronghold. For forty-eight hours before the city fell great 
crowds of the citizens, dumb with terror as the huge German 
shells hurtled over their heads, were fleeing toward Englan 1 
and Holland in such numbers that the hospitality of those 
countries was likely to be taxed to the utmost. 

The suburban town of Lierre was bombarded early in the 
week, the church was destroyed, and a number of citizens 
killed and wounded. The next day the village of Duffel was 
bombarded and the population fled into Antwerp. Many still 
had confidence in the ability of the Antwerp forts to with- 
stand the German attack. 

Although the Germans succeeded in crossing the Nethe, 
their repeated attempts to effect a passage over the Scheldt 
were repulsed and they then concentrated their attention on 
an approach to Antwerp from the southeast. In their trenches 
the Belgians resisted gallantly to the last. "Most wonder- 
ful, ' ' said an American observer on October 7, ' ' is the patient, 



FALL OF ANTWERP 

unfaltering courage of the average Belgian soldier, who has 
been fighting for nine weeks. Tired, with hollow eyes, un- 
kempt, unwashed and provided with hasty, though ample, 
meals, he is spending most of the time in the trenches. 

''King Albert, the equal of any soldier in his devotion to 
duty, daily exposes himself to personal danger, while the 
Queen is devoting her time to the hospitals. ' ' 

The effect of the German siege artillery was especially 
destructive near Vosburg. Several villages suffered heavily 
and the barracks at Contich were wrecked. The forts at 
Waelhem and Wavre-St. Catherines were totally destroyed 
by the terrific shell fire. 

Most of the fighting around Antwerp was a battle of 
Krupps against men. Every day and night the fighting con- 
tinued with deadly effect against the forts, while the shrapnel 
and shell made many of the trenches untenable. 

As fast as the Belgians were compelled to withdraw from 
a position the Germans moved up and occupied it. The Bel- 
gians fought stubbornly with infantry and frequently they 
repulsed the Germans, but these repulses always meant a 
renewal of the artillery attacks by the Germans, with the 
eventual retirement of the Belgians until the end of endurance 
was reached and the city defenses were evacuated by their 
brave garrison. 

An instance of the tenacity with which the infantry stuck 
to their positions was reported from the Berlaere, where the 
commanding officer and his aid-de-camp were in one of the 
most exposed positions. Sandbags protected them for some 
time, but at last the aid-de-camp was struck by shrapnel and 
had his face virtually blown away. Unperturbed by this ter- 
rible proof of the danger of his position, the commanding 
officer stuck to his post, and for further shelter placed the 
body of his junior over his body. In this position he lay 
firing, whenever possible, from 8 o 'clock in the morning until 
4 in the afternoon. 

FIERCE FIGHT TO CROSS NETHE 

The crossing of the River Nethe was attended by great loss 
to the Germans. They hurled their infantry recklessly against 
the Belgian trenches,' and while they lost enormous numbers, 
eventually succeeded in crossing the river. 



350 FALL OF ANTWERP 

One of the -unsuccessful attempts was described by an inde- 
pendent observer as follows: 

"The Germans succeeded in getting a pontoon completed 
and they came down to the river bank in solid masses to cross 
it. As they came every Belgian gun that could be turned on the 
spot was concentrated on them and they were blown away, 
blocks of them at a time, and still the masses came on. 

4 ' The Belgian officers spoke with enthusiasm of the steadi- 
ness and gallantry with which, as each German company was 
swept away, another pushed into its place. But it was a dread- 
ful sight, nevertheless. 

"At last the bridge went, shattered and blown to bits. The 
Belgian guns continued for a while to search the opposite river 
bank, but the Germans fell back and no more masses of men 
came down to where the pontoon had been. Allowing for all 
exaggerations, there can be no doubt that the German loss must 
have been extremely heavy. ' ' 

Near Termonde, on Wednesday, the 7th, the fighting was 
just as fierce. The Belgians had four batteries of field guns 
there which succeeded in destroying the locks of the river (the 
Scheldt), thus flooding a part of the river and blocking the Ger- 
mans. Later they engaged in a hot duel with the German artil- 
lery. Two of the Belgian batteries were completely destroyed 
early in the action and all of the men serving them were killed. 
Not until the last of the remaining guns were put out of action 
did the Belgians withdraw. 

Of the casualties in and around Antwerp during the siege 
it is possible only to make an estimate. It was said after the 
Germans entered the city that their total loss in killed, wounded 
and missing was near forty-five thousand men. German officers 
were credited before the attack with saying that they would 
sacrifice 100,000 men, if necessary, to take Antwerp. It is prob- 
able that the German casualties numbered at least twenty-five 
thousand, while the Belgian losses in actual killed and wounded 
were probably five thousand. The latter fought from en- 
trenched positions, while the heavy German losses were sus- 
tained in the open and at the river crossings. The casualties 
among the British marines, who arrived only a day or two be- 
fore the city capitulated, were comparatively insignificant. 



FALL OF ANTWERP 351 

STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS — HARROWING SCENES ATTENDING THE 
FALL OF ANTWERP AND THE EXODUS OF ITS PEOPLE 

A vivid picture of the pathetic scenes attending the fall of 
Antwerp was given by Lucien A. Jones, correspondent of the 
London Daily Chronicle, who wrote on October 11th as follows: 

"Antwerp has been surrendered at last. The bitterest blow 
which has fallen upon Belgium is full of permanent tragedy, 
but the tragedy is lightened by the gallantry with which the 
city was defended. Only at last to save the historic buildings 
and precious possessions of the ancient port was its further 
defense abandoned. Already much of it had been shattered 
by the long-range German guns, and prolonged resistance 
against these tremendous engines of war was impossible. 
Owing to this the siege was perhaps the shortest in the annals 
of war that a fortified city has ever sustained. Heroic efforts 
were made by the Belgians to stem the tide of the enemy's 
advance, but the end could not long be delayed when the siege 
guns began the bombardment. 

"It was at three minutes past noon on Friday, October 9th, 
that the Germans entered the city, which was formally surren- 
dered by Burgomaster J. De Vos. Antwerp had then been 
under a devastating and continuous shell fire for over forty 
hours. 

' ' It was difficult to ascertain precisely how the German at- 
tack was planned, but the final assault consisted of a continuous 
bombardment of two hours ' duration, from half past 7 o 'clock 
in the morning to half -past 9. During that time there was a 
continuous rain of shells, and it was extraordinary to notice 
the precision with which they dropped where they would do 
the most damage. The Germans used captive balloons, whose 
officers signaled the points in the Belgian defense at which they 
should aim. 

GERMAN GUNS CONCEALED 

"The German guns, too, were concealed with such clever- 
ness that their position could not be detected by the Belgians. 
Against such methods and against the terrible power of the 
German guns the Belgian artillery seemed quite ineffective. 
Firing came to an end at 9.30 on Friday, and the garrison es- 
caped, leaving only ruins behind them. In order to gain time 
for an orderly retreat a heavy fire was maintained against the 



852 FALL OF ANTWERP 

Germans up to the last minute and the forts were then blown 
up by the defenders as the Germans came in at the gate of 
Malines. 

"I was lucky enough to escape by the river to the north in 
a motorboat. The bombardment had then ceased, though many 
buildings were still blazing, and while the little boat sped down 
the Scheldt one could imagine the procession of the Kaiser's 
troops already goose-stepping their way through the well-nigh 
deserted streets. 

MANY HARKOWING SCENES 

* ' Those forty hours of shattering noise almost without lull 
seem to me now a fantastic nightmare, but the sorrowful sights 
I witnessed in many parts of the city cannot be forgotten. 

"It was Wednesday night that the shells began to fall into 
the city. From then onward they must have averaged about 
ten a minute, and most of them came from the largest guns 
which the Germans possess, 'Black Marias,' as Tommy Atkins 
has christened them. Before the bombardment had been long 
in operation the civil population, or a large proportion of it, 
fell into a panic. 

"It is impossible to blame these peaceful, quiet-living 
burghers of Antwerp for the fears that possessed them when a 
merciless rain of German shells began to fall into the streets 
and on the roofs of their houses and public buildings. The 
Burgomaster had in his proclamation given them excellent ad- 
vice, to remain calm for instance, and he certainly set them an 
admirable example, but it was impossible to counsel perfection 
to the Belgians, who knew what had happened to their fellow- 
citizens in other towns which the Germans had passed through. 

FOUGHT TO GET ON THE BOATS 

"Immense crowds of them — men, women and children — 
gathered along the quayside and at the railway stations in an 
effort to make a hasty exit from the city. Their condition was 
pitiable in the extreme. Family parties made up the biggest 
proportion of this vast crowd of broken men and women. There 
were husbands and wives with their groups of scared children, 
unable to understand what was happening, yet dimly con- 
scious in their childish way that something unusual and ter- 
rible and perilous had come into their lives. 



FALL OF ANTWERP 858 

" There were fully 40,000 of them assembled on the long 
quay, and all of them were inspired by the sure and certain 
hope that they would be among the lucky ones who would get 
on board one of the few steamers and the fifteen or twenty tug- 
boats available. As there was no one to arrange their sys- 
tematic embarkation a wild struggle followed amongst the 
frantic people, to secure a place. Men, women and children 
fought desperately with each other to get on board, and in that 
moment of supreme anguish human nature was seen in one of 
its worst moods; but who can blame these stricken people? 

APPALLED BY THE HORROR OF WAR 

"They were fleeing from 'les barbares,' and shells that 
were destroying their homes and giving their beloved town to 
the flames were screaming over their heads. Their trade was 
not war. They were merchants, shopkeepers, comfortable 
citizens of middle age or more ; there were many women and 
children among them, and this horror had come upon them in 
a more appalling shape than any in which horror had visited 
a civilized community in modern times. 

"There was a scarcity of gangways to the boats, and the 
only means of boarding them was by narrow planks sloping at 
dangerous angles. Up these the fugitives struggled, and the 
strong elbowed the weak out of their way in a mad haste to 
escape. 

"By 2 o'clock Thursday most of the tugboats had got away, 
but there were still some 15,000 people who had not been able 
to escape and had to await whatever fate was in store for them. 

A GREAT EXODUS OF INHABITANTS 

"At the central railway station incidents of a similar kind 
were happening. There, as down by the river, immense 
throngs of people had assembled, and they were filled with 
dismay at the announcement that no trains were running. In 
their despair they prepared to leave the city on foot by cross- 
ing the pontoon bridge and marching towards the Dutch fron- 
tier. I should say the exodus of refugees from the city must 
have totaled 200,000 men, women and children of all ages, or 
very nearly that vast number, out of a population which in 
normal times is 321,800. 



354 FALL OF ANTWERP 

"I now return to the events of Thursday, October 8th. At 
12.30 in the afternoon, when the bombardment had already- 
lasted over twelve hours, through the courtesy of a Belgian 
officer I was able to ascend to the roof of the cathedral, and 
from that point of vantage I looked down upon the scene in 
the city. 

"All the southern portion of Antwerp appeared to be deso- 
late ruin. Whole streets were ablaze, and the flames were 
rising to a height of twenty and thirty feet. 

"From my elevated position I had an excellent view also 
of the great oil tanks on the opposite side of the Scheldt. They 
had been set on fire by four bombs from a German Taube aero- 
plane, and a huge thick volume of black smoke was ascending 
two hundred feet into the air. It was like a bit of Gustave 
Dore 's idea of the infernal regions. 

CITY ALMOST DESERTED 

"The city by this time was almost deserted, and no attempt 
was made to extinguish the fires that had broken out all over 
the southern district. Indeed there were no means of dealing 
with them. For ten days the water supply from the reservoir 
ten miles outside the city had been cut off, and this was the 
city's main source of supply. The reservoir was just behind 
Fort Waelthen, and a German shell had struck it, doing great 
mischief. It left Antwerp without any regular inflow of water 
and the inhabitants had to do their best with the artesian wells. 
Great efforts were made by the Belgians from time to time to 
repair the reservoir, but it was always thwarted by the Ger- 
man shell fire. 

KILLED BEFORE HIS WIFE'S EYES 

"After leaving the cathedral, I made my way to the south- 
ern section of the city, where shells were bursting at the rate 
of five a minute. With great difficulty, and not without risk, 
I got as far as Rue Lamoiere. There I met a terror-stricken 
Belgian woman, the only other person in the streets besides 
myself. In hysterical gasps she told me that the Bank 
Nationale and Palais de Justice had been struck and were in 
flames, and that her husband had been killed just five minutes 
before I came upon the scene. His mangled remains were 




Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

1 FRENCH TURCOS DIVIDING THEIR GERMAN SPOILS AT MEAUX 

2 BELGIANS CONGRATULATING PRIVATE LANGE, OF THE 12TII REGIMENT OF IN- 

FANTRY WHO WAS DECORATED BY KING ALBERT FOR KILLING A GERMAN 
'colonel AND FOURTEEN MEN AT HORSTAL. AUGUST 25 




Above— f Left) Archduke Frederick of Austr a, in command of the Austrian forces. 

(Ki«ht) General Count von Moltke, chief of German staff. 
Below— (Left) Archduke Charles Francis, heir to the Austrian throne. 

(Right) Baron von Hoetzendorff, chief of the Austrian staff, with Military Secretary. 




* E 



a, c 



FALL OF ANTWERP 855 

lying not one hundred yards away from where we were 
standing. 

' ' F^xcept for the lurid glare of burning buildings, which lit 
up the streets, the city was in absolute darkness, and near the 
quay I lost my way trying to get to the Hotel Wagner. For 
the second time that day I narrowly escaped death by shell. 
One burst with terrific force about twenty-five yards from me. 
I heard its warning whirr and rushed into a neighboring porch. 
Whether it was from the concussion of the shell or in my 
anxiety to escape I caromed against the door and tumbled 
down, and as I lay on the ground a house on the opposite side 
crashed in ruins. I remained still for several minutes, feeling 
quite sick and unable to get up. Then I pulled myself together 
and ran at full speed until I came to a street which I recognized. 

TAKE KEFUGE IN CELLARS 

"How many of the inhabitants of Antwerp remained in 
the city that night it is impossible to say, but they were all in 
the cellars of their houses or shops. The Burgomaster, M. De 
Vos, had in one of his several proclamations made many sug- 
gestions for safety during the bombardment, for the benefit 
of those who took refuge in cellars. Among the most useful 
of them, perhaps, was that which recommended means of 
escape to an adjoining cellar. The power of modern artil- 
lery is so tremendous that a cellar might very well, become a 
tomb if a shell fell on the building overhead. 

"Sleep was impossible that night, in the noise caused by 
the explosion of shells in twenty different quarters of the 
town. About 6 o'clock I was told that it was time we got 
out, as the Germans were entering the city. We hurried from 
the hotel and found the streets completely deserted. I walked 
down to the quay-side, and there I came across many wounded 
soldiers, who had been unable to get away in the hospital 
boat. 

"On the quay piles of equipment had been abandoned. A 
broken-down motor-car, kit-bags, helmets, rifles and knap- 
sacks were littered in heaps. Ammunition had been dumped 
there and rendered useless. The Belgians had evidently at- 
tempted to set fire to the whole lot. The pile of stuff was still 
smoldering. I waited there for half an hour, and during that 



356 FALL OF ANTWERP 

time hundreds of Belgian soldiers passed in the retreat. Just 
about this time a pontoon bridge which had been the means 
oi the Belgian retreat was blown up to prevent pursuit by 
the Germans. 

"At 8 o'clock a shell struck the Town Hall, and about 8 :15 
another shell shattered the upper story and broke every win- 
dow in the place. 

BURGOMASTER PARLEYS WITH GERMANS 

''That was the German way of telling the Burgomaster 
to hurry up. A quarter of an hour later M. De Yos went out 
in his motor-car toward the German line to discuss the con- 
ditions on which the city should be surrendered. 

"At 9:30 o'clock the bombardment of the city suddenly 
ceased, and we understood that the Burgomaster had by this 
time reached the German headquarters. Still we waited, pain- 
fully anxious to learn what would be the ultimate fate of Ant- 
werp. Belgian soldiers hurried by and at 10:30 proclama- 
tions were posted on the walls of the Town Hall urging all in 
the city to surrender any arms in their possession and begging 
all to remain calm in the event of the Germans' occupation. 
A list was also posted of several prominent citizens who were 
appointed to look after the interests of those Belgians who 
remained. 

1 ' The ' impregnable ' city of Antwerp had fallen, but with- 
out dishonor to its gallant defenders." 



GERMAN MILITARY GOVERNOR OF ANTWERP APPOINTED GERMAN 

OFFICIAL REPORTS 

On October 10 Baron von der Schutz was appointed mili- 
tary governor of Antwerp. It was expected that the city 
would become the base for Zeppelin attacks upon England 
and also for a German naval campaign in which mines and 
submarines would play an important part. This was inti- 
mated in dispatches from Berlin following the German occu- 
pation of the city. 

The German 'General Staff, in announcing the capture, 
added that they could not estimate the number of prisoners 
taken. "We took enormous quantities of supplies of all 
kinds," said the official statement. 



FALL OF AX TWERP Z57 

The German military commander of Antwerp warned the 
people against committing overt acts against the Germans, 
which would, he said, be punished according to the laws of 
war, and "may lead to the demolition of your beautiful city." 
Personal protection and immunity from property loss were 
promised those who abstained from hostile ac 

Prince August Wilhelm, the fourth son of the Kaiser, was 
among the first to penetrate the fortifications at Antwerp. 
The Prince sent an enthusiastic m to the Kaiser, who 

replied, bestowing the Iron Cross upon the Prince and upon 
General von Beseler, the German commander. 

Before the fall of Antwerp the Belgian government moved 
its headquarters to Ostend, and later, when the Germans ad- 
vanced upon that city, to Havre, France. 

King Albert and the Belgian field army made good theh: 
retreat from Antwerp an 1 in the following week harassed the 
German advance upon the coast of the Straits of Dover. 
There was a fierce battle near Termonde, in which the Bel- 
gians were assisted by British cavalry and infantry. Ostend 
was occupied by German troops a week after Antwerp fell, 
but the Allies had by that time gathered a large force to dis- 
pute the progress of the Germans across the frontier towards 
the coast cities of northern France. 

Some alarm at the near approach of the invaders was felt 
in Dunkirk and in Boulogne, but on October 20 the Allies 
were holding their own all along the northwestern frontier of 
France and the German advance along the coast was checked 
by the Belgian army at the Yser river. The line of battle of 
the Allies and the Germans, in the w theater of war, 

then extended from the North Sea, near the Franco-Belgian 
border, south to Lille and Arras, southeast to the valley of the 
Aisne, and thence by way of Mezieres and Verdun southeast 
to Alsace. 



THE PEACE HYMN 

By the Rev. John Haynes Holmes 

Sung to the tune of "St. Agnes" (J. B. Dykes) 

[This hymn was recommended by the Federal Council of Churches and 
the Church Peace Union to be sung in the churches of the United States on 
the Day of Prayer for Peace, Sunday, October 4, designated in the proclama- 
tion of President Wilson.] 

God of the Nations, near and far, 

Ruler of all mankind, 
Bless Thou Thy people as they strive 

The paths of peace to find. 

The clash of arms still shakes the sky, 

King battles still with king, 
Wild through the frighted air of night 

The bloody tocsins ring. 

But clearer far the friendly speech 

Of scientists and seers, 
The wise debate of statesmen and 

The shout of pioneers. 

And stronger far, the clasped hands 

Of labor's teeming throngs, 
Who in a hundred tongues repeat 

Their common creeds and songs. 

Father, from the curse of war 

We pray Thee give release, 
And speed, oh speed the blessed day 

Of Justice, Love and Peace. 

358 



CHAPTER XXIV . 

THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 

Typical Precautions Used by the German Army — The 
Soldiers' First- Aid Outfit — System in Hospital Ar- 
rangements — How Prisoners of War Are Treated — 
Regulations Are Humane and Fair to All Concerned. 

MODERN armies take the best possible care of their 
wounded and none has brought this department of war- 
fare to greater perfection than the Germany army. One 
detail of this work shows the German army at its best. 

Every soldier has sewn under a corner of his coat a strip 
of rubber cloth. Under this strip is a piece of antiseptic gauze, 
a strip of bandage and plaster and cloth for the outer bandage. 
This cloth bears in simple pictures directions for dressing 
every sort of wound. 

When a soldier is wounded either he or some comrade rips 
open this package and applies at once the life saving dressing, 
which will last at any rate until the soldier is brought to a 
station, where the first scientific attention is given. 

Through this simple and inexpensive device thousands 
upon thousands of German soldiers, who have been slightly 
wounded in battle, have returned to their comrades within a 
few days completely well and have taken their places in the 
ranks once more. Without this care a large percentage of the 
wounds would become inflamed, as has been the case with 
hundreds of wounded French prisoners captured by the Ger- 
mans. 

The ordinary procedure of caring for the wounded in the 
German army is for the sanitary corps, which is well provided 
with stretchers and bandages, to gather up the wounded on or 

359 



360 THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 

near the firing lines and bring them to a gathering point a 
little way behind the lines. 

Here the army surgeons are ready to begin work at once 
upon the most urgent cases. They are assisted by members of 
the corps, who remove the temporary bandages, and put on 
dressings which will last until the soldier reaches a hospital. 
Then from this first gathering point the wounded soldiers are 
put on stretchers in Red Cross wagons and carried to the field 
hospitals a few miles farther back, where doctors and nurses 
are at work. 

HOSPITALS IN VILLAGE CHURCHES 

These hospitals are usually established in village churches 
or town halls. One room is cleared and arranged for an operat- 
ing room, where bullets and pieces of shell are removed and 
amputations are made if necessary. 

"I have just visited such a field hospital," said a corre- 
spondent with the right wing of the German army in France, 
writing on September 28. "It was in a little whitewashed 
village church heated by a stove. Everywhere were white 
beds made of straw and covered with sheets. Perhaps twenty 
wounded were here, including two captured Irishmen. They 
lay quite still when the army doctor ushered us in, for they 
were too seriously wounded to pay much attention to any- 
thing. 

' ' Near this hospital was another in a town hall. While we 
were there a consulting surgeon arrived to investigate the 
condition of a seriously wounded lieutenant, whose leg might 
need amputation. Two orderlies put the patient on a stretcher, 
and he was taken into the next room for examination. Later 
in the day the amputation was performed. 

MOVED TO HOSPITALS IN CITIES 

"From these little field hospitals, as soon as the men can 
be moved, they are taken to some general hospital in the near- 
est large city, where several thousands can be cared for. Such 
a hospital exists in this neighborhood in the building of a nor- 
mal college, where every corner is used in housing wounded 
men. 

' ' I made a quick trip through this building and the memory 
of it is one of the most heartrending pictures I have of the war. 



THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 361 

Room after room was filled with the victims of the conflict. 
Every man was seriously wounded. Some had suffered ampu- 
tations and the heads of others were so bandaged that no fea- 
ture could be seen, only a tube to the nose permitting breathing. 

HORROR IN" HOSPITAL SIGHTS 

"In one room a surgeon had a soldier on the operating 
table and was pulling pieces of shell from a huge hole in the 
inner side of one of his legs. On a stretcher on the floor, wait- 
ing for his turn to come under the surgeon's care, was an 
officer. His face was covered with blood, he was waving his 
arms wildly and gasping for air. This scene left an impression 
of the utmost horror upon me. 

"Slightly wounded soldiers, whom it is not necessary to 
leave for a while in the field hospitals, are sent directly to 
these larger hospitals and thence, after a short convalescence, 
are loaded into Red Cross trains and sent home for recovery. 
Later they return to take their places in the regiments. Such 
trains can be seen daily along any main line of railroad. In 
some cases freight cars with straw bedding are used. 

' ' One of the finest examples of charity given during the war 
is a splendid Red Cross train entirely equipped as a modern 
hospital, even having a first class operating room. This was 
given to the German army by the citizens of Wilmersdorff, who 
also employed an excellent surgeon. Scores of lives will be 
saved through a small outlay of money. 

GRAVEYARDS ON BATTLEFIELDS 

1 'Near the large hospital I visited was a graveyard where 
there were scores of neatly marked fresh graves, each bearing 
a cross or tablet with the name of the soldier and his regiment, 
division and corps marked on it. In some cases comrades had 
added a word or two of scripture. The deaths are too numer- 
ous for an imposing ceremony at each burial, but for every one 
an army chaplain reads scripture and offers a short prayer, 
while a few comrades stand by with bared heads. 

"The identity of each soldier is easily determined from the 
name plate which he wears in a little leather purse suspended 
from around the neck. After a battle these plates are gath- 
ered from the dead and from these the death lists are made 



362 THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 

out. [It was said that after the battle of the Marne no fewer 
than 68,000 of these name plates or tags were found collected 
in one place. — Ed.] 

" After a battle where the deaths mount into the thousands 
some field will be shut off for a cemetery and there the bodies 
are buried, each grave receiving some kind of a cross wherever 
it is possible, but here no names can be attached. There will 
be many homes in which there will be vacant places and where 
it will not even be known where the absent ones are buried. 

KAISER INSISTS ON ENTERING 

"While here I heard a touching story about a lieutenant 
who was dying in the hospital, while the Kaiser was inspect- 
ing it. The Kaiser came to the room where the officer lay and 
the attendants asked him not to enter, as a man was dying. 
The Kaiser immediately pushed his way in, went up to the lieu- 
tenant, put his hand on the officer's shoulder, and said in 
German : l Hello, here I am ! ' 

"The lieutenant began murmuring with his eyes closed. 

" *I have been dreaming and I dreamed that my Kaiser 
came to me, put his hand on my shoulder and spoke to me.' 

" 'Open your eyes,' said the Kaiser. 

' ' The lieutenant obeyed, smiled a smile of recognition, and 
then closed his eyes in the final sleep. 

SURGEONS WIN IRON CROSSES 

"So far, according to official announcement, there have 
been between 50,000 and 60,000 wounded and immediately after 
a great battle the sanitary corps has been unable to cope 
quickly enough with the work, but under ordinary circum- 
stances the provision made has been ample. The number of 
the sanitary corps was determined upon the experience in the 
Russo-Japanese war, in which the losses were by no means so 
heavy as they have been in this war, but where in a few cases 
numbers have been lacking the surgeons and their assistants 
have put forth herculean efforts. Many surgeons are now 
wearing the iron cross for bravery, winning the insignia by 
dragging out wounded from the rain of bullets. 



THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 363 

TKEATMENT OP PRISONERS OF WAR 

The prisoner of war has been a conspicuous figure in the 
news that has come from the seething caldron of Europe. 
Many thousands of prisoners have been taken from the con- 
tending armies by their adversaries. For them the average 
American reader, perusing "war news" in the comfort of his 
security from the great conflict, has felt perhaps a grain of 
sorrow and wondered vaguely what horrors befell them after 
capture. 

Early in September the German war department sent 
broadcast a statement that 30,000 Russians had been taken 
prisoners by the German soldiers after heavy battles in East 
Prussia, particularly around Ortelsburg, Hohenstein and Tan- 
nenburg. The statement mentioned the fact that among the 
prisoners were many Russian officers of high rank. 

What is done with these prisoners, how they are handled 
and treated and whether high officials are punished more 
severely than mere privates, are questions frequently asked 
and seldom answered, for the procedure followed in such mat- 
ters is but little known. 

REGULATIONS ARE HUMANE TO ALL 

The international laws of warfare, embodied in The Hague 
conventions, the Geneva convention and the declaration of 
London, contain provisions that provide expressly what man- 
ner of treatment shall be accorded prisoners of hostile nations 
who are taken in battle. If these provisions of international 
law are lived up to, the lot of the prisoner of war is not so hard 
as many people have been led to believe. 

There have been interspersed in the war news from biased 
sources insinuations that the soldiers of this or that nation 
have ruthlessly violated the provisions of the international 
laws governing warfare, and the Kaiser has been accused of 
treating The Hague convention as so much waste paper. The 
news from abroad has not revealed any unfairness to the many 
thousands of soldiers who are prisoners of war, so it must 
be assumed that with respect to them, at least, the laws have 
been observed. That such is the case may be assumed also 
from the fact that the nation which captures its enemy's sol- 
diers and makes prisoners of them is held entirely responsible 



864 THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 

for whatever happens and shoulders at once a responsibility 
that is commensurate with the number of prisoners who are 
taken and detained. 

The law of warfare says that a prisoner must be as fair 
with his captors as they are with him. He must be "humanely 
treated," so it is prescribed, and when he is questioned by his 
captors he must give his true name and the rank he holds in 
the army which has been defeated and of which he was once a 
part. Contrary to general belief, he is not stripped of "every- 
thing" and thrown into a dungeon and fed on a crust of bread 
and a mug of stale water. His captors do not deprive him of 
his personal possessions, except weapons, horses and military 
papers. 

Furthermore, they must give him complete religious lib- 
erty, and it is specifically decreed that he must be given oppor- 
tunity to attend a church of the denomination to which he 
belongs. And there he may pray as much for the success of 
his own nation or the much-desired relief from detention as 
the state of his mind dictates. 

PRISONERS MAY BE CONFINED 

The prisoner of war may be interned in a town or a fort, or 
even a camp, according to the convenience of his captors, but 
the enemy may not confine him, except, the law says, as "an 
indispensable measure of safety," and then only as long as 
the circumstances make it necessary. Of course the law gives 
the commanding officer considerable leeway in such matters, 
for he is left to determine when the "indispensable" occasion 
arises. 

At other times when the prisoner is at liberty, he is subject 
to all the rules and regulations of the army of the government 
that captured him, and if he refuses to obey the rules or acts 
in an insubordinate manner toward the officers in command, 
he may be punished and disciplined according to his offense. 
And here it is again left to the discretion of his captors as to 
what measure of punishment shall be inflicted upon him. 

ATTEMPTS AT ESCAPE 

If a prisoner of war attempts to escape and his captors are 
vigilant to the extent of retaking him before he leaves the ter- 
ritory they occupy, or before he has a chance to rejoin his own 



THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 365 

army, he may be severely punished. On the other hand, if he 
eludeshis captors and makes a clean getaway and his army 
is again unfortunate, and he is captured the second time, the 
perfectly good escape from previous captivity must go unpun- 
ished and he must be treated as a prisoner of war, just as 
though he had not made the successful dash for liberty and 
further glory. 

The government that holds prisoners of war is chargeable 
with their maintenance and must provide them with food, cloth- 
ing and shelter as good as that provided for its own troops. 
The officers of the captors are required to keep records of all 
the prisoners under their charge, and if relief societies, which 
have been extensively formed by the women of Europe and 
many American women as well, wish to minister to their needs 
and comforts, the officers in command must afford them every 
possible facility. And if the friends of prisoners or the wel- 
fare societies see fit to send them presents and clothing, medi- 
cine and other necessities, such goods must be admitted to them 
free of any war duty that might be imposed by the nation 
holding them, and the railroads owned by the government are 
bound to carry such supplies free of transportation charges. 

CAPTIVES MUST BE PAID FOR WORK 

Prisoners of war may be put to work by the government 
that captures them and the duties must be assigned with a view 
to their aptitude, fitness and rank. The tasks must not be 
unduly severe, so as to border on cruelty, and they must have 
no bearing whatever on the operations of the war. The prison- 
ers must be paid for the work they do, moreover, at a rate equal 
to that being paid to the soldiers of the national army, and 
prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, 
for private persons or on their own account. 

The wages of these prisoners, the law says, must go toward 
improving their condition, and the balance must be paid them 
after their release, with the proper deduction for their board 
and keep. When officers of hostile armies who are captured 
are put to work they must get the same wage rate as is paid to 
the corresponding officers of the government whose captives 
they are. All these moneys must be ultimately refunded by 
their own governments to their captors after the war is over, 



366 THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS 

peace is declared and the intricate problems of indemnities 
come up for solution. 

A prisoner of war may even be paroled by his captors, and 
this is done sometimes when he is disabled or there are circum- 
stances that prompt his enemies to let him go to those who are 
near and dear to him. When parole is granted to a prisoner 
he makes a solemn pledge and promise that he will live up to 
the terms under which he is released, and even his own nation 
may not ask him to perform a service that is inconsistent with 
that pledge. 

BREAKER OF A PAROLE 

It goes hard with the prisoner on parole who is caught 
fighting against the nation that released him, for he is not 
entitled to be treated as a prisoner of war, and the judgment 
meted out to him is as terrible as it is sure. Certain codes of 
honor are supposed to be observed even in international war- 
fare, and a soldier who breaks his word of honor is considered 
the most despicable of men. 

No matter how long the military authorities of a nation 
decide to detain the prisoners they take in battle, they may 
not put them to death or even wound them. The procedure 
of taking prisoners is only for one purpose, and that is to 
weaken the opposing armies. When soldiers are declared 
prisoners of war they surrender their arms and if they obey 
the code, do not try to overpower their captors. This par- 
ticular feature of the rule of war is usually lived up to, for the 
effort, if it fails, is punished by instant slaughter, and if the 
dispatches from the scenes of the operations now going on are 
anywhere near the truth the reason for certain acts described 
as " barbarous cruelty" is made apparent. 



CHAPTEE XXV 

THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 

Plan to Send Santa Glaus Gifts From America to War- 
Stricken Children of Europe — A Widespread Response 
— Movement Indorsed by Press, Pulpit and Leading 
Citizens — Approved by Governments of Contending 
Nations. 

THINK of an American ship, flying a flag of purest white 
with a single golden star and one significant word — 
" Inasmuch," sailing in safety across the war-patrolled 
waters of the Atlantic and through the English Channel with 
its bristling array of naval sentinels; piloted unscathed 
through the deadly mine-fields of the North Sea and the gun- 
guarded Straits of Gibraltar; not merely unmolested, but 
honored and saluted by all alike, by dreadnoughts and super- 
dreadnoughts, destroyers and cruisers, citadels and garri- 
sons, torpedo boats and submarines, merchantmen and fishing 
folk, of all the nations waging bitter war ; bearing a message 
of peace and good-will from the prosperous people of the 
New World to the distracted people of the Old, with a full 
cargo of Christmas gifts for the innocent little victims of 
war: — think of such a spectacle and what it means to hu- 
manity, and then thank God that you are an American citizen 
and may have had a part in making it come to pass ! 

For this voyage of the golden-starred Christmas ship is 
no mere dream, but a definite plan of human benevolence, 
inaugurated by a great Chicago newspaper, indorsed by many 
leading journals of the United States, and soon to be carried 
out by the aid of the children of America. The plan was 
launched on September 5th by Mr. James Keeley, editor of 

367 



368 THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 

the Chicago Herald, in a remarkable open letter to the Chil- 
dren of America, which has been well characterized as "a 
beautiful letter" and is here reproduced in full as follows: 

[From the Chicago Herald of Saturday, Sept. 5, 1914.] 

To the Children of America : 

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me." — St. Matthew, xxv, 40. 

When daddy goes to work each morning you expect him 
to come home at night. You would be very sad if he did not, 
wouldn't you? 

Over in Europe, where kings rule, millions of fathers are 
being sent to work by the kings — the work of war. The kings 
tell them to go and fight and they have to go, even if there is 
no one left at home to earn money to buy food and clothing 
and pay the rent. Hundreds of thousands of fathers will 
never come home to their little boys and girls. They will be 
killed by the fathers of other little boys and girls, who do not 
really hate them, but who kill because they have been ordered 
to do so. 

You will have a Merry Christmas. You are looking for- 
ward to the day when Christ was born. You know that father 
and mother will be with you on Christmas day. You know 
that Santa Claus will come from the frozen North, his sleigh 
laden with gifts for you. 

Have you stopped to think what is going to happen on 
Christmas day to the children of Europe whose Santa Claus 
fell dead on the battlefield when father dropped with a bullet 
in his heart — the father whose kiss and cheery "Up, lazy 
boots, Kris Kringle has been here!" once awoke them on 
Christ's birthday? 

For these bereaved children there will be no Kris Kringle. 
His sleigh bells will not jingle on the frosty air in the Black 
Forest, and the snows of the Russian steppes will be untrod- 
den by the good saint's galloping reindeer. Stockings will 
hang limp and empty in many a French cottage and the smoky 
chimneys of England will know him not. No doll for little 



THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 869 

Jane and no red mittens for Brother John ! No soldiers, all 
red and shining, that Karl had hoped for — 0, what a mockery 
at this Christmastide — and Gretchen had dreamed of a set 
of dishes with roses around the edge and a beautiful big bou- 
quet in the center ! Ivan and Francis and Paul and Marie — 
all their little dreams have died in war. 

One million Christmas tragedies — think of it! You chil- 
dren know how big they are. And there will be suffering; 
the dumb grief of the widowed mother, who has given her 
all and yet stands at Christmas time with empty hands; the 
physical agony of the hungry and the underclad; the "sor- 
row's crown of sorrow" — that of remembering happier things. 

Children of America, if you could help you would, wouldn't 
you? And you may. 

You can be Santa Claus to those little boys and girls whose 
daddies died fighting for their country. You can stretch out 
your hands across the sea bearing messages of love and hope 
and sympathy to the children of a war-ridden continent — 
messages from fortunate America to unfortunate Europe. 

You can send that doll to Jane and those mittens to John. 
Yes, by the thousands. 

Ivan will not feel the cold when the stockings you knit 
are pulled upon his chubby legs. 

Gretchen 's eyes may fill with tears, but she will smile 
through them when that big red comforter is wrapped round 
neck and ears. 

Don't you want to help? Of course you do! Listen: 

Let each little boy and each little girl be a Kris Kringle. 
Isn't that a fine thought? Wouldn't you love to be that great 
saint? Wouldn't you love to put your gifts in a sleigh and 
take the reins in your hands and drive the reindeer over the 
roofs of the houses, slipping down the chimneys and leaving 
your gifts for those who badly need them? 

Can you do it? Of course you can. You can help load the 
sleigh and you can shut your eyes and feel the reins in your 
fingers and drive the reindeer up and down the lanes in Eng- 
land, lined with thatch-roofed cottages, through the vineyards 
of France and the stubble fields of Belgium, across the white- 
mantled stretches of Russia, up and down the highways of 



370 THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 

Germany, over the hills of Austria and along the frozen Dan- 
ube to the Servian peasant's hut, stopping to leave a surprise 
— a catch-the-breath surprise — for your little brother and 
sister whose father is dead. 

You may live to be a hundred years old, you may travel 
all over the world and see its wonders and delights, but never 
will you have such a journey as that. 

How can you do all this? 

Just in the easiest kind of a way, but you've got to do it 
yourself to get the real joy of it. Earn money to buy the pres- 
ents or make them yourself. Every boy knows how to earn 
money so he may go to the circus. Ask father to let you split 
the kindling, carry in the coal, carry out the ashes, look after 
the furnace — and make him pay you for it. Save the pennies 
that are given you for candy. Deny yourself something. 

If you are a girl, couldn't you knit a pair of gloves or 
socks or comforters? Wouldn't it be good to know that the 
gloves are keeping warm a pair of little hands like yours? 
Wouldn't it be fine to know that the comforters are covering- 
frosted ears and protecting delicate throats? 

And you must have some toys that have outgrown their 
charm for you. Send them! 

Then there is another thing you can do. Ask father and 
mother to beg Santa Claus to give to a boy or girl in Europe 
one of the gifts that is intended for you! 

"Yes," I hear you say. "I will be Santa Claus to those 
poor little orphan children !" 

And then you ask: "But how can my gift reach the child 
that needs it?" By the train and by the boat and the train 
again. 

And then you say again : 

"But the papers say that English ships and French ships 
and German ships, all armed with cannon, will stop the boat 
carrying my gift." 

They will not. 

England and France and Germany intend to salute the 
boat that is carrying your gift — not to stop it. Your ship 
will be a ship of Good-will. It will be Santa Claus' ship. And 
all the countries at war will dip their flags to it as such. 



THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 871 

All you have to do is to provide the gifts. The Chicago 
Herald will look after all other details. It will organize a 
bureau which will answer your questions. 

Write to the Christmas Ship Editor for help. 

It will see that your gift reaches the boat that will take it 
to Europe. 

^ It will see that your gift is put into hands which will place 
it in the fatherless home on Christmas morning. 

And it will tell every day all about what other boys and 
girls in our country are doing in this work of love. 

Just think what a brave sight the ship will make that car- 
ries your gift to Europe! Can't you picture it, laden with 
the thousands upon thousands of presents from the children 
of America? It will be officered and manned by the fathers 
of little boys and girls who will take every care that it safely 
reaches the countries which are sunk in the want of war. 

Everybody who sees it will know what it is ; for it will fly 
two flags. 

One will be your flag, the flag you love, the beautiful Stars 
and Stripes. 

The other, too, will be your flag. It will be a white flag. 
On its snowy surface will be a single golden star, the "Star 
of Hope." The motto on that flag will be the single word 
"Inasmuch." Ask father and mother to read the sentence 
in the Bible with which that word begins. 

TO THE GROWN-UPS 

To Parents — Help your children to learn lessons of vital 
importance : The joy of giving, the desirability of self-denial, 
the sweetness of sympathy, the horrors of war and the blessed- 
ness of peace. This is a world-wide peace movement that will 
bear fruit — possibly soon, but ultimately, assuredly. 

To School-teachers — In all your books can you find a 
more vital topic? Teach it. 

To Clergymen — You have texts galore. Preach this idea 
— for your Master is the Prince of Peace. 

(Signed) J. Keeley. 



872 THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 

AN ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE 

The response to Mr. Keeley's appeal was instantaneous 
and enthusiastic. Letters and telegrams of approval and 
encouragement poured in from all over the United States. 
The plan of the Santa Claus ship was cordially indorsed by 
President Wilson and by Vice-President Marshall ; by gover- 
nors, senators and representatives in congress; by hundreds 
of newspapers and thousands of the clergy; by leading citi- 
zens of national fame; by fathers and mothers from Maine 
to California, and by every American child to whom the idea 
was explained. 

A typical letter of encouragement was written by Ella 
Flagg Young, superintendent of schools of Chicago, who said : 

"It is a wonderful idea — this promise of a toy ship to 
carry a message from the children of America to the unhappy 
children of Europe. And it was presented in a beautiful 
letter — a letter which every child in the United States and 
the parents of every child should read and keep. 

"A toy ship — a messenger from America to Europe, car- 
rying light where all is darkness, peace where all is murder 
and suffering, love where there is only hate! It is a big 
thought, big in its immediate purpose, big in its almost un- 
limited potentialities. I see in it better boys and girls, finer, 
stronger men and women. I see in it self-denial and sym- 
pathy turned from abstract ideals to realized human attri- 
butes. In it I see all of these and more. 

"I see fathers and mothers dwelling less on the horror 
and tragedy of war and more on its pitiful futility and need- 
lessness. I see children growing to maturity with fixed ideals 
of love and sympathy and mutual helpfulness. I see mur- 
der turned to sympathy, horror to sweetness and hate to love. 

"Of course, this is only a beginning, only a first step in 
a course which should be taken up and followed not only by 
children but also by parents and teachers and ministers and 
priests. Such things take time, just as all growths, all evolu- 
tions take time. But the Santa Claus ship is on the right 
course, its prow is turned to the rising sun, and at the end of 
its journey lies a greater and better and nobler world. 

"Self-sacrifice, love of man to man and child to child, 



THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 873 

broken barriers of race, religion, nation and language — these 
will form the cargo of the Christmas ship more truly even 
than the toys and clothes which comprise its material freight. 

1 'No wonder that great men-of-war should dip their flags 
to the toy ship — for warriors, like other men, have in them 
that spark of the divine which needs only the breath of a 
single disinterested, selfless thought to awaken the highest 
and the noblest that is in human nature. 

"Hats off to the toy ship — to the flag with the single golden 
star!" 



WARSHIP TO CARRY CHILDREN'S GIFTS 

The United States Government officially endorsed the 
Christmas ship plan on October 5th, when the Secretary of the 
Navy announced that the vessel to be laden with the cargo of 
gifts from American children would be a warship flying the 
American flag. This decision was made public in the follow- 
ing letter addressed by Secretary Daniels to the Washington 
representative of the Chicago Herald : 

"My Dear Mr. O'Laughlin: I take great pleasure in informing 
you that I have arranged to send an American warship, the vessel to 
be selected later, to European waters during the later part of Novem- 
ber * # * £ carr y th e Christmas cargo of useful presents which 
ninety-odd newspapers of this country have so thoughtfully collected 
from the generous people of our own country. 

"It is a beautiful spirit which has prompted this portion of the 
press of the United States and the people who have responded to their 
appeal to lavish upon the distressed little ones of European countries 
these tokens of liberality. 

"This unselfish enterprise, I feel confident, bespeaks our own 
gratitude to God for the peace which now prevails within our own 
boundaries and at the same time breathes forth the universal prayer 
from the hearts of our countrymen that the distress of nations across 
the waters may soon be ended. 

"Again assuring you of my delight that the navy is able in some 
measure to further your plans and purposes, believe me, cordially 
yours, (Signed) " Josephus Daniels, 

' ' Secretary of the Navy. ' ' 

Among the newspapers referred to by Mr. Daniels were 
some of the most influential dailies in America. 



374 



THE CHRISTMAS SHIP 



The collection of gifts to be forwarded to Europe on the 
Christmas ship was made chiefly through the medium of depots 
established at convenient points in all the many cities that 
took an active part in the movement. The response to the call 
for suitable gifts was generous and prompt, so that a full 
cargo of large intrinsic value was made ready for the sailing 
of the ship of war which carried the golden-starred flag of 
peace and goodwill, floating in honor with the naval ensign of 
the United States. 

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." 



FORGOTTEN 




Detroit Times. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

Thrilling Incidents of the Great War Told by Actual Com- 
batants — Personal Experiences from the Lips of Sur- 
vivors of the World's Bloodiest Battles — Tales of 
Prisoners of War, Wounded Soldiers and Refugees 
Rendered Homeless in Blighted Arena of Conflict. 

HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING 

CAVALRY fighting on the banks of the River Marne in 
the year 1914 was almost identical with the charge in 
the days when Hannibal's Numidian horse charged at 
Romans at Lake Trasimene, or when Charles Martel and the 
chivalry of France worsted the Moors and saved Europe on 
the plains of Tours. 

A good description of a cavalry charge was given by 
Private Capel of the Third British Hussars, a veteran of the 
Boer war, who took part in the fighting beginning at Mons 
and was separated from his regiment in a charge at Coulom- 
miers, in the battle of the Marne, when his horse fell. 

' 'You hear," said he, "the enemy's bugles sounding the 
charge. Half a mile away you see the Germans coming and 
it seems that in an instant they will be on you. You watch 
fascinated and cold with a terror that makes you unable to 
lift an arm or do anything but wait and tremble. 

"They come closer and still you are horrorstruck. Then 
you feel your horse fretting and suddenly you start from your 
daze, and fear changes suddenly to hate. Your hand goes to 
the saber hilt, your teeth clinch and you realize that you must 
strike hard before the enemy, who is now very close, can 
strike. Every muscle tightens with the waiting. 

"Before your own bugles have sounded two notes of the 
charge you find yourself leaning forward over the neck of 

375 



376 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

your galloping horse. All the rest is a mad gallop, yells of 
the enemy and your own answer, a terrible shock in which you 
are almost dismounted, and then you find yourself face to face 
with a single opponent who, standing up in the stirrups, is 
about to split your head. You notice that you are striking 
like a fiend with the saber. 

"After that madness passes it seems almost like a complex 
maneuver and soon you find yourself riding for dear life — 
perhaps to escape, perhaps after the Germans. You then 
realize that you have been whipped and that the charge has 
failed, or you see the backs of the fleeing enemy, feel your 
horse straining in pursuit and know that you have gained a 
victory. ' ' 

FRIGHTFUL MORTALITY AMONG OFFICERS 

The official reports of the loss of life in the battles in 
France tell of the large number of officers killed. Sharp- 
shooters on both sides have had instructions to aim at officers. 
These sharpshooters are often concealed far in advance of 
their troops. Their small number and their smokeless powder 
make their discovery most difficult. This lesson was learned 
at great cost to the British during the Boer war. 

Dispatches from Bordeaux stated that letters found on 
dead and captured German officers prove the truth of reports 
regarding the terrible mortality in the German ranks, espe- 
cially among officers. In the Tenth and Imperial Guard Corps 
of the German army it is said that only a few high ranking 
officers escaped being shot, and many have been killed. The 
German officers have distinguished themselves by their cour- 
age, according to the stories of both British and French who 
fought them. 

An officer of an Imperial Guard regiment, who was taken 
prisoner after being wounded, said : 

"My regiment left for the front with sixty officers; it 
counts today only five. We underwent terrible trials." 

A German artillery officer wrote: 

"Modern war is the greatest of follies. Companies of 
250 men in the Tenth Army Corps have been reduced to 
seventy men, and there are companies of the guard com- 
manded by volunteers of a year, all the officers having dis- 
appeared. " 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 377 

SAYS GERMANS FOUGHT EVERY DAY 

The following is from a letter written during the pro- 
longed battle of the Aisne by a lieutenant of the Twenty-sixth 
German Artillery: 

"The Tenth Corps has been constantly in action since the 
opening of the campaign. Nearly all our horses have fallen. 
We fight every day from 5 in the morning till 8 at night, 
without eating or drinking. The artillery fire of the French 
is frightful. We get so tired that we cannot ride a horse, even 
at a walk. Toward noon our battery was literally under a 
rain of shrapnel shells and that lasted for three days. We 
hope for a decisive battle to end the situation, for our troops 
cannot rest. A French aviator last night threw four bombs, 
killing four men and wounding eight, and killing twenty horses 
and wounding ten more. We do not receive any more mail, 
for the postal automobiles of the Tenth Corps have been de- 
stroyed." 

HOW IT FEELS TO BE WOUNDED 

Many men in the trenches have proved themselves heroes 
in the war. A wounded British private told this story : 

1 ' We lay in the trench, my friend and I, and when the order 
to fire came we shot, and shot till our rifles burned up. Still 
the Germans swarmed on toward us, and then my friend re- 
ceived a bad wound. I turned to my work again, continuing 
to shoot slowly. Then I rose a little too high on my shoulder. 

"Do you know what it is like to be wounded! A little 
sting pierced my arm like a hot wire ; too sharp almost to be 
sore, and my rifle fell from me. I looked at my friend then 
and he was dead." 

In one casualty list made public by the British war office 
in September, sixteen officers were reported killed, thirty-eight 
wounded and ten missing. The famous Coldstream Guards 
and the Black Watch regiments were among the sufferers. 

HOW GENERAL FINDLEY DIED 

A correspondent in France described the death of General 
Neil Douglas Findley of the British Royal Artillery as fol- 
lows: 

"When at dawn the British advance continued toward 
Soissons the enemy was fighting an exceptionally fierce rear- 



378 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

guard action. A terrible shell fire was directed against our 
artillery under General Findley, temporarily situated in a 
valley by the village of Prise. It seemed a matter of moments 
when we should have to spike our guns and General Findley 
saw the urgency for action. 

" 'Boys,' his voice echoed down the line, 'we are going to 
get every gun into position.' Then deliberately the general 
approached a regimental chaplain kneeling beside a gunner. 
1 Here are some of my personal belongings, chaplain. See that 
they don't go astray.' 

' ' One by one our guns began to blaze away and the general 
had a word of encouragement and advice for every man. In 
vain his staff tried to persuade him to leave the danger zone. 

"Our range was perfect, the German fire slackened and 
died away and with a yell our men prepared to advance. The 
outburst came too soon, one parting shell exploding in a 
contact with Findley 's horse, shattering man and beast. ' ' 

KILLED FOE IN REVOLVER DUEL 

While their men battled on a road near Antwerp, it is said 
that a Belgian cavalry sergeant and an officer of German 
Uhlans fought a revolver duel which ended when the Belgian 
killed his foe, sending a bullet into his neck at close range. 

The daring Uhlans had approached close to the Antwerp 
fortifications on a reconnoitering expedition. They were seen 
by a small Belgian force, which immediately went out on the 
road to give battle. As they neared each other, the German 
commander shouted a jibe at the Belgian sergeant. There 
was no answer, but the sergeant rode at a gallop straight for 
the Uhlan. Miraculously escaping the shots aimed at him, he 
drew up alongside the officer and informed him that his life 
was to be forfeited for the insulting words he had uttered. 
Both began firing with their revolvers, while at the same time 
their men clashed. 

Only a few of the soldiers witnessed the thrilling duel, for 
they themselves were fighting desperately. After their offi- 
cer's death the Uhlans withdrew, leaving a number of dead. 
Someone carried word of the duel to King Albert, who had 
just arrived in Antwerp, and he called before him and per- 
sonally congratulated the sergeant, Henri Pyppes. The latter 



STORIES FRO 31 THE BATTLEFIELD 379 

was wounded in the arm by one of the Uhlan's bullets, but he 
refused to be taken to the hospital and remained on duty in 
the field. 

LITTLE STORIES FROM FRANCE 

Count Guerry de Beauregard, a French veteran of the 
war of 1870, thus announced the death of a son at the front : 
' ' One son already has met the death of the brave beyond the 
frontier at the head of a squadron of the Seventh Hussars. 
Others will avenge him. Another of my sons, an artilleryman, 
is with the general staff. My eldest son is with the Twenty- 
first Chasseurs. Long live France ! " 

A wounded French soldier who was taken to Marseilles 
verified a remarkable story of his escape from death while 
fighting in German Lorraine. The soldier owes his life to a 
small bust of Emperor William, which he picked up in a vil- 
lage school and placed in his haversack. A German bullet 







THE BRUTE. HE KNEW NO BETTER— DO WE? 

— ClfTcland Plain Dealer. 



380 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

struck the bust and, thus deflected, inflicted only a slight 
wound on the soldier. 

Twenty German prisoners taken during the melee near 
Crecy, were herded together in a clearing, their rifles being 
stacked nearby. In a rash moment they thought that they 
were loosely guarded and made a combined rush for the 
rifles. "They will never make another," was the laconic re- 
port of the guard. 

SAYS DEAD FILLED THE MEUSE 

Edouard Helsey of the Paris newspaper, Le Journal, re- 
ported to be serving with the colors, wrote under date of 
August 29: 

"It would be difficult to estimate the number of Germans 
killed last week. Whole regiments were annihilated at some 
points. They came out of the woods section by section. One 
section, one shell — and everything was wiped out. 

"At two or three places which I am forbidden to name 
corpses filled the Meuse until the river overflowed. This is 
no figure of speech. The river bed literally was choked by 
the mass of dead Germans. The effect of our artillery sur- 
passes even our dreams." 

SAD PLIGHT OF FRENCH FUGITIVES 

M. Brieux, the noted French dramatist, who witnessed the 
arrival at Chartres of a train full of fugitives who had fled 
from their homes before the German advance, described his 
experience for the Figaro. The fleeing people gathered round 
him and told him stories and he wrote his impressions as 
follows : 

' ' Children weep or gaze wide-eyed, wondering what is the 
matter. Old folks sit in gloomy silence. Women with hag- 
gard cheeks and disheveled hair seem to belong to another 
age. 

"They tell of invaders who scattered powder around or 
threw petroleum into their houses and then set them afire. 

"And when did this happen? Yesterday! It is not a 
matter of centuries ago in distant climes, but yesterday, and 
quite near to us. Yet one cannot believe it was really yester- 
day that these things were done." 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 381 

One of the fugitives explained to M. Brieux why after the 
first hour of their flight she had to carry her elder child as 
well as her baby. She showed him a pair of boots. 

"I felt the inside with my fingers," says Brieux. " Nails 
had come through the soles. I looked at the child's feet. 
They were dirty with red brown clots. It was blood. ' ' 

"why do we kill one another?" 

"A Frenchman, mortally wounded in the chest, appealed 
to me in the dumb sign language of those nearer death than 
life for a drink of water," says a correspondent who wit- 
nessed some of the fighting at the Marne. After he had 
sipped it he fell back to the ground. " 'Monsieur, are 
the Germans Christians?' he asked. 'Why, certainly,' I 
replied. 'Then,' said he, 'why do we kill one another?' " 

Why do we kill one another? When civilized nations 
shall have answered that simple question, war will have be- 
come only a horrible nightmare that is past. 

IN THE "VALLEY OF DEATH" 

The fiercest fighting of all that preceded the Russian vic- 
tory at Lublin was in a gorge near the village of Mikolaifr", 
which the Russian soldiers reverently named the "Valley of 
Death." 

The gorge was full of dead men, lying in heaps, accord- 
ing to an officer who participated in the battle. "When we 
attacked at 3 o'clock in the morning," he said, "the gorge 
contained 15,000 Austrians, a large proportion of whom 
were mowed down by the artillery fire which plowed through 
the valley in the darkness. The Austrians surrendered and we 
entered the gorge to receive their arms, while their general 
stood quietly on a hill watching the scene. Eight of his 
standards being turned over to the Russians was more than 
he could bear, for he drew a pistol and shot himself." 

GENERAL USE OF KHAKI UNIFORMS 

The war put everybody into khaki, with a few exceptions. 
On the battle line or in the field the English soldier and the 
English officer get out of their richly colored and historic 



382 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

uniforms and into khaki, of a neutral hue. The Germans are 
in gray. The Austrians have most of their soldiers in khaki, 
and the Russians all wear khaki-colored cloth. The French 
still cling to their blue coats and brilliant red trousers, al- 
though steps are being taken to reclothe the army in more 
modern fashion, and the Belgians have a uniform that is very 
similar to the French. 

The French and Belgian officers are dangerously orna- 
mented with gilt trimmings during warfare and present such 
brilliant targets that some of the Belgian regiments during 
hard fighting with the Germans have lost nearly all of their 
leaders. 

The new twentieth century mode of warfare puts the ban 
on anything that glitters, even the rifle barrels, bayonets and 
sabers. 

A BELGIAN BOY HEEO 

On a cot in the Red Cross hospital at Ostend, September 
12, lay one of the heroes of the war. He is Sergeant van der 
Bern of the Belgian army, and only 17 years old. He was 
only a corporal when he started out with twenty-nine men 
on a reconnoitering expedition during which he was wounded, 
but displayed such valor that his bravery was publicly re- 
lated to all the soldiers, and Van der Bern was promoted. 

Van der Bern and his little command came suddenly upon 
a band of fifty Uhlans while on their expedition. Outnum- 
bered, his men turned and fled. The corporal shouted to them 
and dashed alone toward the Germans. The other Belgians 
rallied and threw themselves upon the Uhlans. Within a few 
minutes only Van der Bern and two others of his command 
remained. Twenty-seven Belgians were dead or wounded. 
Within a few minutes more the corporal's companions fell, 
mortally wounded. Then the boy picked them up and dis- 
playing almost superhuman strength carried them to safety. 
As he was making his retreat, burdened by the two wounded 
men, Van der Bern was hit twice by German bullets. He 
staggered on, placed his men in charge of the Red Cross and 
without a word walked to headquarters and reported the 
engagement. Then he fell in a faint. 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 383 

WHEN THE GERMANS RETREATED 

A vivid description of the rout and retreat of the Ger- 
mans during hurricane and rain on September 10, which 
turned the roads into river ways so that the wheels of the 
artillery sank deep in the mire, was given by a correspondent 
writing from a point near Melun. He described how the 
horses strained and struggled, often in vain, to drag the guns 
away, and continued : 

"I have just spoken with a soldier who has returned 
wounded from the pursuit that will go down with the terrible 
retreat from Moscow as one of the crowning catastrophes 
of the world. They fled, he declares, as animals flee who are 
cornered, and know it. 

"Imagine a roadway littered with guns, knapsacks, car- 
tridge belts, Maxims and heavy cannons even. There were 
miles and miles of it. And the dead — those piles of horses 
and those stacks of men! I have seen it again and again, 
men shot so close to one another that they remained standing 
after death. The sight was terrible and horrible beyond 
words. 

"The retreat rolls back and trainload after trainload of 
British and French are swept toward the weak points of the 
retreating host. This is the advantage of the battleground 
which the Allies have chosen. The network of railways is 
like a spider's web. As all railways center upon Paris, it is 
possible to thrust troops upon the foe at any point with al- 
most incredible speed, and food and munitions are within 
arm's reach." 

PRINCE JOACHIM WOUNDED 

Prince Joachim, youngest son of Emperor William, was 
wounded during a battle with the Russians and taken to 
Berlin. On September 15 it was reported from Berlin that 
the wound was healing rapidly, despite the tearing effect 
of a shrapnel ball through the thigh. The empress and the 
surgeons were having considerable trouble in keeping the 
patient quiet in bed. He wanted to get on his feet again and 
insisted that he ought to be able to rejoin his command at the 
front in about a fortnight. 

"The prince treats the wound as a trifle," said the Berlin 
dispatch. ' ' He smilingly greeted an old palace servant whom 



884 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

he had known since childhood with the remark: 'Am I not 
a lucky dog?' " 

From an officer who was with Prince Joachim when he 
was wounded the following description of the incident was 
obtained : 

"It was during the hottest part of the battle, shortly 
before the Russian resistance was broken, that the prince, 
who was with the staff as information officer, was dispatched 
to the firing line to learn how the situation stood. He rode off 
with Adjutant Captain von Tahlzahn and had to traverse 
the distance, almost a mile, under a heavy hail of shell and 
occasional volleys. 

"As the Russian artillery was well served and knew all 
the ranges from previous measurements, the ride was not a 
particularly pleasant one, but he came through safely and 
stood talking with the officers when a shrapnel burst in their 
vicinity. The prince and the adjutant were both hit, the 
latter receiving contusions on the leg, but the shot not pene- 
trating. 

"To stop and whip out an emergency bandage which the 
prince, like every officer and private, carries sewed inside 
the blouse, and bind it around the thigh to check the bleeding- 
was the work of but a moment. It was a long and dangerous 
task, however, to get him back to the first bandaging station, 
about a mile to the rear, under fire and from there he was 
transported to the advanced hospital at Allenstein, where he 
remained until he was able to travel. 

"Prince Joachim, who was already recommended for the 
Iron Cross for bravery before Namur, received the decora- 
tion shortly before he was wounded. The prince, who has 
many friends in America, conveyed through his adjutant his 
thanks for assurances of American sympathy and interest." 

EX-EMPRESS DEVOTED TO FRANCE 

The aged ex-Empress Eugenie of France, widow of Na- 
poleon III, has been living for many years in retirement in 
the county of Hampshire, England. She was recently visited 
by Lord Portsmouth, an old friend, who found the illustrious 
lady full of courage and devotion to the French cause in the 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 385 

present war. In explaining her failure to treat her guest 
as she would have desired, the empress said: 

' ' I cannot give you dinner because most of the men of my 
kitchen have gone to war." 

A " BATTLESHIP ON WHEELS " 

Just before the war France added to its equipment the 
most modern of righting devices. It is a train of armored 
cars with rapid-fire guns, conning towers and fighting tops. 
As a death-dealing war apparatus it is the most unique of 
anything used by any of the nations. This "battleship" on 
wheels consists of an armored locomotive, two rapid-fire gun 
carriages and two armored cars for transporting troops. 
The rapid-fire guns are mounted in such manner that they 
can be swung and directed to any point of the compass. 
Rising from the car behind the locomotive, is a conning tower 
from which an officer takes observations and directs the fire 
of the rapid-fire guns. Rails running on top of the cars per- 
mit troops to fire from the roof of the cars. For opening 
railway communications this "battleship on wheels" is un- 
excelled. 

GAVE HIM A FORK TO MATCH 

The scene is a village on the outskirts of Muelhausen, in 
Alsace. A lieutenant of German scouts dashes up to the door 
of the only inn in the village, posts men at the doorway and 
entering, seats himself at a table. 

He draws his saber and places it on the table at his side 
and orders food in menacing tones. 

The village waiter is equal to the occasion. He goes to 
the stables and fetches a pitchfork and places it at the other 
side of the visitor. 

"Stop! What does this mean?" roared the lieutenant, 
furiously. 

1 ' Why, ' ' said the waiter, innocently, pointing to the saber, 
' ' I thought that was your knife, so I brought you a fork to 
match." 

DECORATED ON" THE BATTLEFIELD 

On a train loaded with wounded which passed through 
Limoges, September 11, was a young French officer, Albert 
Palaphy, whose unusual bravery on the field of battle won 
for him the Legion of Honor. 



886 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

As a corporal of the Tenth Dragoons at the beginning of 
the war, Palaphy took part in the violent combat with the 
Germans west of Paris. In the thick of the battle the cav- 
alryman, finding his colonel wounded and helpless, rushed to 
his aid. 

Palaphy hoisted the injured man upon his shoulders, and 
under a rain of machine gun bullets carried him safely to the 
French lines. That same day Palaphy was promoted to be 
a sergeant. 

Shortly afterward, although wounded, he distinguished 
himself in another affair, leading a charge of his squad 
against the Baden guard, whose standard he himself cap- 
tured. 

Wounded by a ball which had plowed through the lower 
part of his stomach and covered with lance thrusts, he was 
removed from the battlefield during the night, and learned 
he had been promoted to be a sublieutenant and nominated 
chevalier in the Legion of Honor. 

This incident of decorating a soldier on the battlefield 
recalls Napoleonic times. 

"after you/' said the frenchman 

Lieutenant de Lupel of the French army is said to have 
endeared himself to his command by a most unusual exhibi- 
tion of what they are pleased to term "old-fashioned French 
gallantry. ' ' 

Accompanied by a few men, Lieutenant de Lupel succeeded 
in surrounding a German detachment occupying the station 
at Mezieres. The lieutenant, on searching the premises, came 
upon the German officer hiding behind a stack of coal. Both 
men leveled their guns, and for a moment faced each other. 

"After you," finally said the Frenchman courteously. 

The German fired and missed and Lieutenant de Lupel 
killed his man. 

The French soldiers cheered their leader, and he has been 
praised everywhere for his action. 

a "walking wood" at crecy 
A correspondent describes a "walking wood" at Crecy. 
The French and British cut down trees and armed themselves 
with the branches. Line after line of infantry, each man 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 387 

bearing a branch, then moved forward unobserved toward 
the enemy. 

Behind them, amid the lopped tree trunks, the artillery- 
men fixed themselves and placed thirteen-pounders to cover 
the moving wood. 

The attack, which followed, won success. It almost went 
wrong, however, for the French cavalry, which was following, 
made a detour to pass the wood and dashed into view near 
the ammunition reserves of the Allies. 

German shells began falling thereabouts, but British sol- 
diers went up the hills and pulled the boxes of ammunition 
out of the way of the German shells. Ammunition and men 
came through unscathed. By evening the Germans had been 
cleared from the Marne district. 

CHAPLAIN CAPTURES AUSTRIAN TROOPERS 

The Bourse Gazette relates the story of a Russian regi- 
mental chaplain who, single-handed, captured twenty-six Aus- 
trian troopers. He was strolling on the steppes outside of 
Lemberg, when suddenly he was confronted by a patrol of 
twenty-six men, who tried to force him to tell the details 
of the position of the Russian troops. 

While talking to the men, the priest found that they were 
all Slavs, whereupon he delivered an impassioned address, 
dwelling on the sin of shedding the blood of their Slav 
brethren. 

At the end of the address, the story concludes, the troopers 
with bent heads followed the priest into the Russian camp. 

A BRITISH CAVALRY CHARGE 

Here is a picturesque story of a British cavalry charge 
at Thuin, a town in Belgium near Charleroi, and the subse- 
quent retreat to Compiegne : 

1 'On Monday morning, August 24, after chafing at the 
long delay, the 2nd British Cavalry Brigade Jet loose at the 
enemy 's guns. The 9th Lancers went into action singing and 
shouting like schoolboys. 

"For a time all seemed well; few saddles were emptied, 
and the leaders had charged almost within reach of the 
enemy's guns when suddenly the Germans opened a mur- 



888 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

derous fire from at least twenty concealed machine guns at 
a range of 150 yards. 

"The result was shattering, and the Lancers caught the 
full force of the storm. Vicomte Vauvineux, a French cav- 
alry officer who rode with the brigade as interpreter, was 
killed instantly. Captain Letourey, who was the French mas- 
ter of a school in Devon, was riding by the side of Vauvineux, 
and had a narrow escape, as his horse was shot from under 
him. Other officers also fell. 

"While the bulk of the brigade swerved to the right the 
others held on and rode full tilt into wire entanglements 
buried in the grass thirty yards in front of the machine 
guns, and were made prisoners. Three regiments of the best 
cavalry in the British went into the charge, and suffered 
severely. The 18th Hussars and the 4th Dragoons also suf- 
fered, but not to the same extent as the others. 

"A happy feature of the charge was the gallant conduct 
of Captain Grenfell, who, though twice wounded, called for 
volunteers and saved the guns. It is said that he has been 
recommended for the Victoria Cross. 

"After this terrible ordeal the British brigade was 
harassed for fourteen days of retreat, the enemy giving them 
rest neither day nor night. At 2 o'clock each morning they 
were roused by artillery fire, and every day they fought a 
retiring action, pursued relentlessly by the guns. 

"It was a wonderful retreat. Daily the cavalry begged 
to be allowed to go for the enemy in force to recover lost 
ground, but only once were they permitted to taste that joy, 
at the village of Lassigny, which they passed and repassed 
three times. 

"The Germans made repeated efforts, which were always 
foiled, to capture the retreating transport. It had, how- 
ever, many narrow escapes. At one point it escaped by a 
furious gallop which enabled the wagons to cross a bridge 
less than an hour ahead of the enemy. The engineers had 
mined the bridge and were waiting to blow it up. They sent 
a hurry-up call to the transport, and the latter responded 
with alacrity. The bridge was blown up just in time to sep- 
arate the two forces. 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 889 

"At Compiegne the brigade for the first time saw and 
welcomed their French brothers-in-arms." 

BOY SCOUT HERO OF THE WAR 

One of the popular heroes of Belgium is Boy Scout Ley- 
sen, who has been decorated by King Albert for his valor 
and devotion to his country. 

This young man, who was born at Liege, is described as of 
almost uncanny sharpness, with senses and perceptions as 
keen as an Indian. He was able to find his way through the 
woods and pass the German sentinels with unerring accuracy. 

Leysen made his way through the German lines from 
Antwerp for the tenth time on Sunday, September 6, carry- 
ing dispatches to secret representatives of the Belgian gov- 
ernment in Brussels. He discovered and denounced eleven 
German spies in Belgium, and performed a variety of other 
services, and all without impairing his boyish simplicity. 

KAISER ASKS FOR PRAYERS 

After the first three weeks of war, Emperor William 
requested the supreme council of the Evangelical Church 
throughout the German empire to include the following 
prayer in the liturgy at all public sendees during the war : 

"Almighty and most merciful God, God of the armies, we 
beseech Thee in humility for Thy almighty aid for German 
Fatherland. Bless our forces of war; lead us to victory and 
give us grace that we may show ourselves to be Christians 
toward our enemies as well. Let us soon arrive at a peace 
which will everlastingly safeguard our free and independent 
Germany. ' ' 

SPIRIT OF FRENCH WOMEN 

When sympathy was expressed in Paris for a poor 
woman, mother of nine sons, eight of whom were at the front, 
she replied: "I need no consolation. I have never forgotten 
that I was flogged by Prussians in 1870. I have urged my sons 
to avenge me and they will." 

As one train of soldiers for the front moved out of a 
Paris railway station two girls who had bravely kissed fare- 
well to a departing man turned away, and one began to cry, 
but the other said: "Keep up a little longer, he can still 
see us." 



390 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

Another carried a baby, and as her husband leaned out 
of the window' and the train started she threw it into his 
arms, crying: " Leave it with the station master at the next 
station, and I will fetch it ; you must have it for another few 
minutes." 

A Paris painter, called for military duty, was obliged to 
leave his wife and four children almost destitute. When he 
communicated with his wife on the subject she replied: "Do 
your duty without worrying about us. The city, state and 
our associations will look after us women and children." In 
her letter, the wife enclosed a money order for $1 out of 
$1.20, the total amount of money which she possessed. 

KILLS MANY WITH ARMORED CAR 

Lieutenant Henkart, attached to the general staff of the 
Belgian Army, perfected a monitor armored motor car which 
was successfully used by the Belgians. 

During the war the officer engaged in reconnoitering in 
one of his armored cars. He had several encounters with 
Uhlans, of whom he killed a considerable number, virtually 
single-handed. His only assistants in his scouting trips were 
a chauffeur, an engineer and a sharpshooter. 

On one occasion the party killed five Uhlans. Two days 
later it killed seven and on another occasion near "Waterloo, 
the auto ran into a force of 500 Germans and escaped after 
killing twenty-five with a rapid-fire gun, which was mounted 
on the motor car. 

A GERMAN RUSE THAT FAILED 

A Belgian diplomat in Paris related an incident he ob- 
served at Charleroi. He said: 

"Twenty Death's Head Hussars entered the town at 7 
o'clock in the morning and rode quickly down the street, 
saluting and calling out 'Good-day' to those they met, saying, 
'We are friends of the people.' 

"Mistaking them for English cavalrymen, the people 
cried 'Long live England!' The Belgian soldiers themselves 
were deceived until an officer at a window, realizing their 
mistake, ran to the street and gave the alarm. The Belgian 
soldiers rushed quickly to arms and opened fire on the fleeing 
Germans, of whom several were killed." 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 391 

DIED WRITING TO HIS WIFE 

Here is a story of a heroic death on the battlefield, told 
simply in a letter found in the cold hands of a French soldier 
who had just finished writing it when the end came . "I am 
awaiting help which does not come," the letter ran. "I pray 
God to take me, for I suffer atrociously. Adieu, my wife and 
dear children. Adieu, all my family, whom I so loved. I re- 
quest that whoever finds me will send this letter to Paris to 
my wife, with the pocketbook which is in my coat pocket. 
Gathering my last strength I write this, lying prostrate under 
the shell fire. Both my legs are broken. My last thoughts 
are for my children and for thee, my cherished wife and com- 
panion of my life, my beloved wife. Vive la France !" 

IN THE PARIS MILITARY HOSPITAL 

A visitor to the military hospital within the intrenched 
camp of Paris, just outside the city walls, said on Septem- 
ber 18: 

1 ' Men of all ranks are there, from the simple private to a 
general of division. There is no sign of discouragement or 
sadness on the pale faces, which light up with the thought of 
returning to battle. 

"I saw hundreds of men lying on the beds in the wards 
with varieties of wounds, no two being identical. This Turco 
— or African soldier — suffered from a torn tongue, cut by a 
bullet, which traversed his cheek. Another had lost three 
fingers of his left hand. A bullet entered the temple of this 
infantryman and fell into his mouth, where by some curious 
reaction he swallowed it. 

"Many of the patients are suffering from mere flesh 
wounds. One poor fellow whose eye was put out by a bullet 
said: "That's nothing. It is only my left eye and I aim 
with my right. I need the lives of just three Germans to pay 
for it." 

SMOKE AS WOUNDS ARE TREATED 

"The Turcos, though terrible hand-to-hand fighters, are 
hard to care for. They have great fear of pain and it is 
difficult to bandage their wounds. The doctors give them 



392 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

cigarettes, which they smoke with dignity as if performing 
a ritual. 

"All the African soldiers were wrathful at a German 
officer lying in a neighboring room. They muttered in a 
sinister fashion, ' To-morrow!' and put two hands to the 
neck. I understood this to mean that they would strangle 
him to-morrow. Much vigilance is required to keep the officer 
out of their reach. 

"One Turco killed two Prussians with his bayonet and 
two with the stock of the gun in a single fight. His body is 
covered with the scars of years of fighting in the service of 
France. When asked if he liked France he replied : ' France 
good country, good leaders, good doctors.' He seemed to 
mind his wound less than the lack of cigarettes." 

SPIRIT OF BELGIAN SOLDIERS 

Writing from Antwerp on September 1, William G. 
Shepherd, United Press staff correspondent, illustrated the 
spirit of the soldiery of Belgium by the following story: 

"The little Belgian soldier who climbed into the compart- 
ment with me was dead tired ; he trailed his rifle behind him, 
threw himself into the seat and fell sound asleep. He was 
ready to talk when he awoke an hour later. 

" 'Yes, I was up all night with German prisoners,' he said. 
'It was a bad job, there were only sixteen of us to handle 
200 Germans. We had four box cars and we put twenty- 
five prisoners in one end of the car and twenty-five in the 
other, and the four of us with rifles sat guard by the car door. 

" 'We rode five hours that way and I expected every min- 
ute that the whole fifty Germans in the car would jump on 
us four and kill us. Four to fifty; that's heavy odds. But 
we had to do it. You see there aren't enough soldiers in Bel- 
gium to do all the work, so we have to make out the best 
we can.' 

"That's the plucky little Belgian soldier, all over. 

"In the first place, he's different from most soldiers, be- 
cause he is willing to fight when he knows he's going to lose. 

" 'We have to make out the best we can,' is his motto. 

"In the second place, he's a common-sense little fellow. 
Even while he's fighting, he's doing it coolly, and there is 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 393 

no blind hatred in his heart that causes him to waste any 
effort. He gets down to the why and wherefore of things. 

" 'I really felt sorry for those German prisoners,' said 
a comrade of the first soldier. 'They were all decent fellows. 
They told me their officers had fooled them. They said 
the officers gave them French money on the Herman frontier 
and then yelled to them, ' ' On into France ! ' ' They went on 
three days and got to Liege before they knew they were in 
Belgium instead of France. 

" 'We didn't want to hurt Belgium,' they told us, 'be- 
cause we're from Alsace-Lorraine ourselves.' 

" 'You see,' continued the logical little Belgian, 'it wasn't 
their fault, so we couldn't be mad at them.' 

"That is the Belgian idea — cool logic. 

" 'Why did you fight the Germans?' I asked a high gov- 
ernment official. 

" 'Because civilization can't exist without treaties, and 
it is the duty that a nation owes to civilization to fight to 
the death when written treaties are broken, ' was the reply. 

" 'It must be a rule among nations that to break a treaty 
means to fight. The Germans broke the neutrality treaty 
with Belgium and we had to fight.' 

" 'But did you expect to whip the Germans?' 

" 'How could we? We knew that hordes of Germans 
would follow the first comers, but we had no right to worry 
about who would be whipped; all we had to do was to fight, 
and we've done it the best we could.' 

"It has been a cool-headed logical matter with the Bel- 
gians from the start. Treaties are made with ink; they're 
broken with blood, and just as naturally and coolly as the 
Belgian diplomats used ink in signing the treaties with Ger- 
many so the Belgian soldiers have used their blood in trying 
to maintain the agreements." 

RIFLES USED BY NATIONS OF WAR 

In the present war Germany uses a Mauser rifle, with a 
bullet of 8 millimeters caliber, steel and copper coated. 
Great Britain's missile is the Lee-Enfield, caliber 7.7 mm., 
the coating being cupro-nickel. 

The French weapon is the Lebel rifle, of 8 mm. caliber, 
with bullets coated with nickel, Russia uses Mossin-Nagant 



394 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

rifles, 7.62 mm., with bullets cupro-nickel coated. Austria's 
chief small arm is the Mamilicher, caliber 8 mm., with a steel 
sheet over the tip. 

Hitting a man beyond 350 yards, the wounds inflicted by 
all these bullets are clean cut. They frequently pass through 
bone tissue without splintering. 

When meeting an artery the bullet seems to push it to 
one side and goes around without cutting the blood channel. 

Amputations are very rare compared with wars of more 
than fifty years ago. A bullet wound through a joint, such 
as the knee or the elbow, then necessitated the amputation 
of the limb. Now such a wound is easily opened and dressed. 

Even Russia, which made a sad sanitary showing in the 
war with Japan, now has learned her lesson and has efficient 
surgical arrangements. 

All the nations use vaccine to combat typhoid, the scourge 
which once decimated camps, and killed 1,600 in the Spanish- 
American war. 

GERMAN UHLANS AS SCOUTS 

Concerning the German Uhlans, of whom so much has 
been heard in the European war, Luigi Barzini, a widely 
known Italian war correspondent, said: 

"The swarms of cavalry which the Germans send out 
ahead of their advance are to be found everywhere — on any 
highway, on any path. It is their business to see as much 
as possible. They show themselves everywhere and they 
ride until they are fired upon, keeping this up until they have 
located the enemy. 

"Theirs is the task of riding into death. The entire 
front of the enemy is established by them, and many of them 
are killed — that is a certainty they face. Now and then, how- 
ever, one of them manages to escape to bring the information 
himself, which otherwise is obtained by officers in their rear 
making observation. 

"At every bush, every heap of earth, the Uhlan must say 
to himself: 'Here I will meet an enemy in hiding.' He 
knows that he cannot defend himself against a fire that may 
open on him from all sides. Everywhere there is danger for 
the Uhlan — hidden danger. 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 395 

"Nevertheless he keeps on riding, calmly and undis- 
turbed, in keeping with German discipline." 

FOUGHT WITHOUT SHOES 

The Paris Matin relates that on the arrival of a train 
bringing wounded Senegalese riflemen nearly all were found 
smoking furiously from long porcelain pipes taken 
from the enemy and seemingly indifferent to their wounds. 
One gayly told of the daring capture of a machine gun by 
eighteen of his comrades. The gun, he said, was brought 
up by a detachment of German dragoons and the Senegalese 
bravely charged and captured everything. 

Though their arms and bodies were hacked by sabers, 
the Senegalese complained of nothing but the obligation to 
fight with shoes on. Before going into battle at Charleroi 
they slyly rid themselves of these impediments and came 
back shod in German footwear to avoid punishment for losing 
equipment. 

KILLED A GENERAL 

The shot which resulted in the death of Prince von Bue- 
low, one of the German generals, was fired by a Belgian pri- 
vate named Rosseau, who was decorated by King Albert for 
his conduct in the battle of Haelen. 

Rosseau was lying badly wounded among his dead com- 
rades when he saw a German officer standing beside his 
horse and studying a map. Picking up a rifle beside a dead 
German, Rosseau fired at this officer and wounded him. The 
officer proved to be Prince von Buelow. Exchanging his hat 
for the German general's helmet and taking the general's 
horse, Rosseau made his way to the Belgian lines and was 
placed in a hospital at Ghent. 

HOW A GERMAN PRINCE DIED 

The Hanover Courier gave the following account by an 
eyewitness of the death of Prince Frederick William of Lippe 
at Liege: 

"On all sides our detachment was surrounded by Belgian 
troops, who were gradually closing in for purposes of exter- 
minating us. At the prince's command we formed a circle 



396 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

eight deep, maintaining a stubborn defense. At length a 
strong division arrived to support us. The prince raised 
himself from a kneeling position and turned to the standard 
bearer, who lay prone beside him, covering the standard with 
his body. 

" 'Raise the standard,' commanded the prince, 'so that 
we may be recognized by our friends.' 

"The standard bearer raised the flag, waving it to and 
fro. This action immediately brought upon the standard 
bearer and the prince a violent fusillade. The standard was 
shot away and at the same moment the prince was struck 
in the chest and expired instantly. ' ' 

BAILWAY STATION A SHAMBLES 

Mrs. Herman H. Harjes, wife of the Paris banker, who, 
with other American women, was deeply interested in relief 
work, visited the North railroad station at Paris on Sep- 
tember 1 and was shocked by the sights she saw among the 
Belgian refugees. 

"The station," said Mrs. Harjes, "presented the aspect 
of a shambles. It was the saddest sight I ever saw. It is 
impossible to believe the tortures and cruelties the poor un- 
fortunates had undergone. 

"I saw many boys with both their hands cut off so that 
it was impossible for them to carry guns. Everywhere was 
filth and utter desolation. The helpless little babies, lying 
on the cold, wet cement floor and crying for proper nourish- 
ment, were enough to bring hot tears to any mother's eyes. 

"Mothers were vainly besieging the authorities, begging 
for milk or soup. A mother with twelve children said : 

" 'What is to become of us? It seems impossible to suffer 
more. I saw my husband bound to a lamppost. He was 
gagged and being tortured by bayonets. When I tried to 
intercede in his behalf, I was knocked senseless with a rifle. 
I never saw him again.' " 

BURIED ON THE FIELD 

The bodies of the dead in this war were not, with occasional 
exceptions, returned to their relatives, but were buried on 
the field and where numbers required it, in common graves. 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 397 

Valuables, papers and mementoes were taken from the bodies 
and made up in little packets to be sent to the relatives, and 
the dead soldiers, each wrapped in his canvas shelter tent, 
as shroud, were laid, friend and foe, side by side in long 
trenches in the ground for which they had contested. 

GERMAN LISTS OF THE DEAD 

In the German official Gazette daily lists of the dead, 
wounded and missing were published. The names marched 
by in long columns of the Gazette, arrayed with military pre- 
cision by regiments and companies, batteries or squadrons — 
first the infantry and then cavalry, artillery and train. 

The company lists were headed usually by the names of 
the officers, killed or wounded ; then came the casualties from 
the enlisted strength — first the dead, then the wounded and 
the missing. A feature of the early lists was the large propor- 
tion of this last class, reports from some units running mo- 
notonously, name after name, "missing" or "wounded and 
missing" — in mute testimony of scouting patrols which did 
not return, or of regiments compelled to retire and leave be- 
hind them dead, wounded and prisoners, or sometimes of men 
wandering so far from their comrades in the confusion of 
battle that they could not find and rejoin their companies 
for days. 

THE LANCE AS A WEAPON 

An attempt was made in lists of the German wounded to 
give the nature and location of the wound. These were prin- 
cipally from rifle or shrapnel fire. A scanty few in the cavalry 
were labeled "lance thrust," indicating that the favorite 
weapon of the European cavalry has not done the damage ex- 
pected of it, although the lance came more into play in the 
later engagements between the Russian and German cavalry 
divisions. 

"fatherland or death!" 

Writing from Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, on August 29th, 
Karl H. von Wiegand, manager of the Berlin bureau of the 
United Press, said : 

"America has not the faintest realization of the terrible 
carnage going on in Europe. She cannot realize the deter- 



398 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

mi nation of Germany, all Germany — men, women and children 
— in this war. The German Empire is like one man. And 
that man's motto is 'Vaterland oder Tod!' (Fatherland or 
Death!) 

"English news sources are reported here as telling of the 
masterly retreat of the allies. Here in the German field head- 
quarters, where every move on the great chess-board of Bel- 
gium and France is analyzed, the war to date is referred to 
as the greatest offensive movement in the history of modern 
warfare." 

GERMAN PLANS WELL LAID 

The German offensive plans were well laid. No army that 
ever took the field was ever so mobile. Thousands of army 
autos have been in use. Each regiment had its supply. The 
highways were mapped in advance. There was not a cross- 
road that was not known. Even the trifling brooks had been 
located. Nothing had been left to chance and the advance 
guard was accompanied by enormous automobiles filled with 
corps of sappers who carried bridge and road building 
materials. 

THE TERRIBLE KRUPP GUNS 

How well the German plans worked was shown when Na- 
mur, which, it was boasted, would resist for months, fell in 
two days. The terrible work of the great Krupp weapons, 
whose existence had been kept secret, is hard to realize. One 
shot from one of these guns went through what was consid- 
ered an impregnable wall of concrete and armored steel at 
Namur, exploded and killed 150 men. 

And aside from the effectiveness of these terrible weapons, 
Belgian prisoners who were in the Namur forts declare their 
fire absolutely shattered the nerves of the defenders, whose 
guns had not sufficient range to reach them. 

GERMANS DEFY DEATH 

"It makes you sick to see the way that the Germans liter- 
ally walk into the very mouth of the machine guns and cannon 
spouting short-fused shrapnel that mow down their lines and 
tear great gaps in them," said a Belgian major who was 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 399 

badly wounded. "Nothing seems to stop them. It is like an 
inhuman machine and it takes the very nerve out of you to 
watch it." 

SPIRIT OF GERMAN WOMEN 

"The women of Germany are facing the situation with 
heroic calmness," said Eleanor Painter, an American opera 
singer on landing in New York September 7th, direct from 
Berlin, where she had spent the last four years. "It is all 
for the Fatherland. The spirit of the people is wonderful. 
If the men are swept away in the maelstrom of war, the 
women will continue to fight. They are prepared now to 
do so. 

"There are few tears in Berlin. Of course there is sor- 
row, deep sorrow. But the German women and the few men 
still left in the capital realize that the national life itself is 
at stake and accept the inevitable losses of a successful mili- 
tary occupation. There is a grim dignity everywhere. There 
are no false ideas as to the enormity of the struggle for 
existence. A great many Germans, in fact, realizing that it 
is nearly the whole world against Germany, do not believe 
that the Fatherland can survive. But they are determined 
that while there is a living German so long will Germany 
fight. 

FATHER AND TEN SONS ENLIST 

"A German father with his ten sons enlisted. General 
von Haessler, more than the allotted three-score years and 
ten, veteran of two wars, offered his sword. Boys who vol- 
unteered and who were not needed at the time wept when 
the recruiting officers sent them back home, telling them their 
time would come. 

"The German women fight their own battles in keeping 
back tears and praying for the success of the German arms. 
Hundreds of titled women are at the front with the Red Cross, 
sacrificing everything to aid their country. Baroness von 
Ziegler and her daughter wrote from Wiesbaden that they 
were en route to the front and were ready to fight if need be. 

"Even the stupendous losses which the army is incurring 
cannot dim the love of the Fatherland nor the desire of the 
Germans, as a whole nation, to fight on. I speak of vast 



400 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

losses. An officer with whom I talked while en route from 
Berlin to Rotterdam, told me of his own experience. He was 
one of 2,000 men on the eastern frontier. They saw a de- 
tachment of Russians ahead. The German forces went into 
battle singing and confident, although the Russian columns 
numbered 12,000. Of that German force of 2,000 just fifty 
survived. None surrendered." 

FEARFUL STATE OF BATTLEFIELDS 

Dead men and horses, heaped up by thousands, lay putre- 
fying on the battlefields of the Aisne, Colonel Webb C. Hayes, 
U. S. A., son of former President Hayes, declared in Washing- 
ton on Oct. 7, on his return from observing the war and its 
battlefields. He was the bearer of a personal message to Presi- 
dent Wilson from the acting burgomaster of Louvain. 

"When I left Havre on Sept. 27," he said, "the Allies 
were fearful that they would not be able to penetrate to the 
German line through the mass of putrefying men and horses 
on the battlefields, which unfortunately the combatants seem 
not to heed about burying. I don't see how they could pass 
through these fields. The stench was horrible, and the idea 
of climbing over the bodies must be revolting even to brave 
soldiers." 

Col. Hayes had been on the firing line ; he had visited the 
sacked city of Louvain as the guest of Germans in an armored 
ear ; he had been in Aix-la-Chapelle, at the German base, and 
had seen some of the fighting in the historic Aisne struggle. 

"It is a sausage grinder," he declared. 

"On one side are the Allies, apparently willing to sacrifice 
their last man in defense of France ; on the other are the Ger- 
mans, seemingly prodigal of their millions of men and money 
and throwing man after man into the war. ' ' 

"What about the alleged atrocities in Belgium?" he was 
asked. 

"Well, war is hell ; that's about the only answer I can give 
you. The real tragic feature of the whole war is Belgium. Its 
people are wonderful folk — clean, decent, respectable. What 
this nation should do is to concentrate its efforts to aid the 
women and children of Belgium. Help for hospitals is not so 
much needed, but the fate of these people is really pathetic." 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 401 

Asked for a brief description of what he saw along the 
battle line, Col. Hayes declared : 

' ' The battle front these days is far different from what it 
used to be. There are few men to be seen, and practically no 
guns. All are concealed. Shrapnel flies through the air and 
bursts. That is the scene most of the time. In the hand-to- 
hand fighting bayonets are used much by the French, while the 
Turcos use knives." 

' ' Shall you go back 1 ' ' Col. Hayes was asked. 

"Does anyone wish to visit a slaughterhouse a second 
lime? "he replied. 

PRINCES WOUNDED BY THE FOE 

Prince August William, the fourth son of Emperor Wil- 
liam, was shot in the left arm during the battle of the Marne 
and Emperor William bestowed the Iron Cross of the first 
class on him. 

Prince Eitel, the Kaiser's second son, was wounded during 
the battle of the Aisne. Up to October 7 four of Emperor Wil- 
liam *s sons had been placed temporarily hors de combat. 

Prince George of Servia, while leading his battalion against 
the Austrians September 18, was hit by a ball which entered 
near the spinal column and came out at the right shoulder. 
The wound was said not to be dangerous. 

HOW THE SCOTSMEN FOUGHT 

At St. Quentin, France, the Highland infantrymen burst 
into the thick of the Germans, holding on to the stirrups of the 
Scots Greys as the horsemen galloped, and attacked hand to 
hand. The Germans were taken aback at the sudden and 
totally unexpected double irruption, and broke up before the 
Scottish onslaught, suffering severe losses alike from the 
swords of the cavalry and from the Highlanders' bayonets. 
The scene of this charge is depicted in one of our illustrations. 

TWO TRAGIC INCIDENTS 

During the Russian retreat through the Mazur lake dis- 
trict, in East Prussia, a Russian battery was surrounded on 
three sides by the enemy's quick firers. The infantry was on 
the other side of the lake, and the Russian ammunition was 



402 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

exhausted. In order to avoid capture, the commander ordered 
the battery to gallop over the declivity into the lake. His order 
was obeyed and he himself was among the drowned. 

During an assault on the fortress of Ossowetz, a German 
column got into a bog. The Russians shelled the bog and the 
single road crossing it. The Germans, in trying to extricate 
themselves, sank deeper into the mire, and hundreds were 
killed or wounded. Of the whole column, about forty survived. 

IX THE BRUSSELS HOSPITALS 

A peculiar incident of the war is noted by a doctor writing 
in the New York American, who went through several of the 
great Brussels hospitals and noted the condition of the 
wounded Belgian soldiers. These soldiers carried on the 
defense of their country with a valor which the fighting men 
of any nation might admire and envy. The writer remarks : 

"Two facts struck me very forcibly. The first was the 
very large number of Belgian soldiers wounded only in the 
legs, and, secondly, many of the soldiers seem to have collapsed 
through sheer exhaustion. 

"In peace times one sees and hears little or nothing of 
extreme exhaustion, because in times of peace the almost 
superphysical is not demanded. War brings new conditions. 

"These Belgian soldiers were at work and on the march 
during stupendous days, practically without a moment's 
respite. They went, literally, until they dropped. As a medi- 
cal man, their condition interested me enormously. 

"What force of will to fight and struggle until the last 
gasp ! The exhaustion one sees often in heat strokes and in 
hot climates is commonplace, but this type of exhaustion is, by 
itself, the final triumph of brave spirits. 

"The victims presented a very alarming appearance when 
first I met them. They seemed almost dead ; limp, pale, and 
cold. Recovery usually is not protracted; in every case the 
men knocked out in this manner expressed a fervent desire to 
return at once to the ranks. 

"So many Belgians have been shot in the legs that this 
fact has aroused considerable surprise in medical circles. It 
is not a matter of chance. 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 403 

"When German prisoners came in and were interrogated, 
the explanation was forthcoming that orders had been given 
to fire low, no doubt in the belief that the man hit in the leg 
must be immediately hors de combat. This was certainly 
humane of the Germans, as such wounds heal speedily. The 
German wounded, on the other hand, have been hit for the 
most part about the body." 

GERMAN WARNING TO FRENCH TOWNS 

Following is the text of a proclamation published in French 
and posted in all towns occupied by the Germans : 

"All the authorities and the municipality are informed that 
every peaceful inhabitant can follow his regular occupation 
in full security. Private property will be absolutely respected 
and provisions paid for. 

' ' If the population dare under any form whatever to take 
part in hostilities the severest punishment will be inflicted on 
the refractory. 

"The people must give up their arms. Every armed indi- 
vidual will be put to death. Whoever cuts telegraph wires, 
destroys railway bridges or roads or commits any act in detri- 
ment to the Germans will be shot. 

"Towns and villages whose inhabitants take part in the 
combat or who fire upon us from ambush will be burned down 
and the guilty shot at once. The civil authorities will be held 
responsible. (Signed) Von Moltke." 

MOTORS IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY 

The Russian army has always placed much dependence on 
its horses, having a vast number, but it has realized the import- 
ance of the motor vehicle in warfare and already it is much 
better equipped than other nations suppose. An illustration 
of the fact is the following, related by a Red Cross man who 
accompanied the Russian forces into eastern Germany: 

"I was walking beside one of our carts. We could hear 
heavy artillery fire as we went, when shouts from our people 
behind warned us to get off the road. We pulled onto the 
grass as there came thundering past, bumping from one rough 
place to another on the poor road and going at a sickening pace, 
a string of huge motor cars crowded with infantrymen. They 



404 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

looked like vehicles of the army establishment, all apparently 
alike in size and pattern and each carrying about thirty men. 

1 ' They were traveling like no motor wagon that I ever saw 
— certainly at not less than forty miles an hour. The pro- 
cession seemed endless. I didn't count them, but there were 
not less than a hundred, and perhaps a good many more. That 
was General Rennenkampf reinforcing his threatened flank." 

"a little bbass tag" 

From time to time the dispatches have stated that the 
German army officers have shipped to Berlin thousands of 
little brass identification tags, taken from the bodies of their 
dead. This inspired a Michigan poet to write the following 
pathetic lines, published in the Detroit Free Press : 

All that is left of her wonderful son 

Is a little brass tag; 
All of her baby that shouldered a gun 

Is a little brass tag. 
He that so proudly marched off in the line, 
Clear-eyed and smiling and splendid and fine, 
Is home once again on the banks of the Rhine, 

Just a little brass tag. 

He with the eyes that were kindly and blue 

Is a little brass tag; 
He with the shoulders so square and so true 

Is a little brass tag. 
He that stepped forward to follow the flag, 
To ride with a saber or march with a Krag, 
You'll find him now, with thousands, shipped home, in a bag, 

Just a little brass tag. 

Oh, mother, the boy you 're so hungry to see 

Is a little brass tag; 
The end of your dreams of the man he would be 

Is a little brass tag; 
Your beautiful visions of splendors have fled, 
Your wonderful man of to-morrow lies dead ; 
He went as a soldier, but comes home instead 

Just a little brass tag. 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 405 

VALLEY OF DEATH ON THE AISNE 

A non-combatant who succeeded in getting close to the 
firing lines on the Aisne when the great battle had raged con- 
tinuously for five weeks, wrote as follows on October 21st of 
the horrors he had witnessed: 

' ' Between the lines of battle there is a narrow strip, vary- 
ing from seventy yards to a quarter of a mile, which is a 
neutral valley of death. Neither side is able to cross that 
strip without being crumpled by fire against which no body 
of men can stand. The Germans have attempted to break 
through the British and French forces hundreds of times but 
have been compelled to withdraw, and always with severe 
losses. 

' ' A number of small towns are distributed in this narrow 
strip, the most important being Craonne. The Germans and 
French have reoccupied it six times and each in turn has 
been driven out. The streets of Craonne are littered with the 
dead of both armies. The houses, nearly all of which have 
been demolished by exploding shells, are also full of bodies of 
men who crawled into them to get out of the withering fire 
and have there died. Many of these men died of sheer ex- 
haustion and starvation while the battle raged day after day. 

"Both armies have apparently abandoned the struggle to 
hold Craonne permanently, and it is now literally a city of the 
dead. 

" It is a typical French village of ancient stone structures ; 
the tiny houses all have, or had, gables and tiled roofs. These 
have mostly been broken by shell fire. Under the shelter of 
its buildings both the Germans and French have been able at 
times to rescue their wounded. 

"This is more than can be said of the strip of death 
between the battle lines. There the wounded lie and the dead 
go unburied, while the opposing forces direct their merciless 
fire a few feet above the field of suffering and carnage. I did 
not know until I looked upon the horrors of Craonne that such 
conditions could exist in modern warfare. 

"I thought that frequent truces would be negotiated to 
give the opposing armies an opportunity to collect their 
wounded and bury their dead. I had an idea that the Red 



406 STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 

Cross had made war less terrible. The world thinks so yet, 
perhaps, but the conditions along the Aisne do not justify that 
belief. If a man is wounded in that strip between the lines 
he never gets back alive unless he is within a short distance 
of his own lines or is protected from the enemy's fire by the 
lay of the land. 

1 ' This protracted and momentous battle, which raged day 
and night for so many weeks, became a continuous nightmare 
to the men engaged in it, every one of whom knew that upon 
its issue rested one of the great deciding factors of the war. ' ' 

BEITISH AID FOR FRENCH WOUNDED 

The following paragraphs from a letter received October 
15th by the author from an English lady interested in the 
suffrage movement, give some idea of the spirit in which the 
people of England met the emergency; and also indicate the 
frightful conditions attending the care of the wounded in 
France : 

"London, October 7, 1914. — The world is a quite different 
place from what it was in July — dear, peaceful July ! It seems 
years ago that we lived in a time of peace. It all still seems 
a nightmare over England and one feels that the morning 
must come when one will wake up and find it has all been a 
hideous dream, and that peace is the reality. But the facts 
grow sadder every day, as one realizes the frightful slaughter 
and waste of young lives. * * * 

"But now that we are in the midst of this horrible time, 
we can only stop all criticism of our Government, set our teeth, 
and try to help in every possible way. All suffrage work has 
stopped and all the hundred-and-one interests in societies of 
every kind are in abeyance as well. The offices of every kind 
of society are being used for refugees, Red Cross work, unem- 
ployment work, and to meet other needs of the moment. 

' ' Every day of our time is taken up with helping to equip 
'hospital units,' private bodies of doctors and nurses with 
equipment, to go to France and help the French Red Cross 
work among the French wounded. The situation in France 
at present is more horrible than one can imagine. Our Eng- 
lish soldiers have medical and surgical help enough with them 
for first aid. Then they are sent back to England, and here 



STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD 407 

all our hospitals are ready and private houses everywhere 
have been given to the War Office for the wounded. But the 
battlefield is in France ; many of the French doctors have been 
shot; the battle-line is 200 miles long, and the carnage is 
frightful. 

"Last week we sent off one hospital unit, and a messenger 
came back from it yesterday to tell us awful facts — 16,000 
wounded in Limoges for one place, and equal numbers in 
several other little places south of Paris — just trains full of 
them — with so little ready for them in the way of doctors 
or nurses. One hears of doctors performing operations with- 
out chloroform, and the suffering of the poor fellows is 
awful. ' ' 



MUST PEACE WAIT FOR THIS? 




— Chicago Daily News, Sept. 21. 



FOR ALL WE HAVE AND ARE 

BY KUDYAED KIPLING 

For all we have and are, 

For all our children's fate, 
Stand up and meet the war — 

The Hun is at the gate ! 
Our world has passed away 

In wanton overthrow; 
There's nothing left to-day 

But steel and fire and woe. 
Though all we know depart, 

In courage keep your heart. 

Once more we hear the word 

That sickened earth of old — 
No law except the sword 

Unsheathed and uncontrolled. 
Once more it knits mankind, 

Once more the nations go 
To meet and break and bind 

A crazed and riven foe. 

Comfort, content, delight, 

The ages' slow-bought gain, 
They shriveled in a night — 

Only ourselves remain 
To face the naked days 

In silent fortitude, 
Through perils and dismays, 

Renewed and re-renewed. 
Though all we made depart 

The old commandments stand — 
In patience keep your heart, 

In strength lift up your hand. 

No easy hopes or lies 

Shall bring us to our goal — 
But iron sacrifice 

Of body, will and soul. 
There's but one task for all, 

For each one life to give : 
Who stands if Freedom fall ? 

If England dies, who live ? 

408 



CHAPTER XXVII 

LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 

Results of the Battle of the Aisne — Fierce Fighting in North- 
ern France — Developments on the Eastern Battle Front 
— The Campaign in the Pacific — Naval Activities of the 
Powers. 

WITH a battle front reaching from the Belgian coast on 
the North Sea to the frontier of Switzerland, or a total 
distance of 362 miles, the operations in the western 
theater of war toward the end of October were being con- 
ducted on a more gigantic scale than was ever witnessed 
before. On both sides reinforcements were being rushed to 
the front. German efforts to break through the Allies' lines 
were concentrated on the main center at Verdun and on the 
right flank of the Allies' left wing, above its elbow, between 
Noyon and Arras, while powerful coincidal movements were in 
progress on the extreme western end of the line in Belgium 
and on the southeastern wing in Alsace. At Verdun con- 
tinuous fighting of the fiercest character had been going on 
for over sixty days, surpassing in time and severity any in- 
dividual battle in history. The army of the Crown Prince had 
been unable to force the French positions in the vicinity of 
Verdun and the check sustained by the Germans at this point 
early in the campaign constituted a principal cause of General 
von Kluck's failure in his dash toward Paris. 

All along the tremendous battle front the allies ' lines as a 
rule held firm in the thirteenth week of the war, when the 
great conflict had entered upon what may well be called its 
fourth stage. The third stage may be said to have ended with 
the fall of Antwerp and the subjugation of all Belgium but a 
small portion of its southwestern territory. On the main front 
the Allies were maintaining the offensive at some vital points, 
while repulsing the German assaults at others. One or two 

409 



410 LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 

of the French forts commanding Verdun had fallen but the 
main positions remained in the hands of the French, and all 
along the line it was a case of daily give-and-take. 

FIERCE FIGHTING IN FLANDERS 

After capturing Antwerp the Germans pushed on to 
Ostend, an ''open" or unfortified town, and occupied it with 
slight resistance from the Belgian army, which was reforming 
its broken ranks to the south, between Ostend and the French 
frontier, and preparing to contest the passage of the Kaiser's 
forces across the River Yser. Moving northward from Lille, 
the Allies encountered the Germans at Armentieres, which 
was occupied by a Franco-British force and there was also 
fierce fighting at Ypres, where there is a canal to the sea. For 
more than a week the Belgians gallantly held the banks of the 
Yser in spite of the utmost endeavors of the Germans to cross, 
and it was not until October 24 that the latter finally succeeded 
in getting south of the river, with the French seaport of 
Dunkirk as their next objective point. Bloody engagements 
were fought at Nieuport, Dixmude, Deynze and La Bassee. 

At this time the battle line formed almost a perpendicular 
from Noyon in France north to the Belgian coast, south of 
Ostend. A battle raged for several days in West Flanders and 
Northern France and both sides claimed successes. The 
losses of the Allies and the Germans were estimated in the 
thousands and the wounded were sent back to the rear by the 
trainful. In the Flemish territory the flat nature of the terrain, 
with its numerous canals and almost total absence of natural 
cover, made the losses especially severe. The passage of the 
Yser cost the Germans dearly and Dixmude was strewn with 
their dead. And their advance could get no farther. 

The necessity of holding the French ports, Dunkirk and 
Calais, was fully realized by the Allies, who threw large rein- 
forcements into their northern line. The Germans also drew 
heavily on their center and left wing to reinforce the right, and 
for a while the forces opposing one another at the extreme 
western end of the battle front were greater than at any other 
point. The Germans were firmly held on a line running from 
south of Ostend to Thourout, Roulers and Menin, the last 
mentioned place being on the border north of Lille. Flanking 
attacks being no longer possible, as the western flanks of both 



LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 411 

armies rested on the North Sea, the Germans were compelled 
to make a frontal assault along the line formed by the Belgian 
frontier. As the Belgian troops, assisted by a British naval 
brigade, were pushed back from the Yser, they were gradually 
merged into the army of the allies, by whom they were re- 
ceived with the honors due the men who had made, for twelve 
long weeks, such a gallant and determined defense of their 
country against invasion and despoilment. 

BRITISH WAESHIPS AID BELGIANS 

Soon after the German occupation of Ostend, several Brit- 
ish warships shelled the German positions in and around the 
city and aided in hampering the German advance along the 
coast. The principal vessels engaged in this work were three 
monitors which were being completed in England for the 
Brazilian government when the war started and which were 
bought by the admiralty. 

These monitors, which had been renamed Mersey, Humber 
and Severn, drew less than nine feet of water and could take 
up positions not far from shore, from which their 6-inch guns 
and 4.7-inch howitzers, of which each vessel carried two, were 
able to throw shells nearly four miles across country, the range 
being given them by airmen. 

French warships of light draft later joined the British 
monitors and destroyers and assisted in patrolling the coast, 
shelling German positions wherever the latter could be discov- 
ered by the aeroplane scouts. One reported feat of the naval 
fire was the destruction of the headquarters of a German gen- 
eral, Von Trip, in which the general and his staff lost their 
lives. 

German destroyers and submarines, which had apparently 
been brought down the coast of Holland, operated against the 
combined fleets from a base in the deep canal that connects 
Bruges and Zeebrugge. Their attacks were persistent, but up 
to October 28 the German torpedoes had failed to find their 
mark; and likewise every effort of the French and British 
squadrons to destroy the submarines had failed. 

INDIAN TROOPS IN ACTION 

The first word of the employment of British Indian troops 
at the front came on October 27, when it was reported that in 
the fighting near Lille a reserve force of Sikhs and Ghurkas, 



412 LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 

the former with bayonets and the latter with the kukri (a 
short, curved sword) played havoc with an attacking force of 
Germans. ''Never has there been such slaughter," said the 
dispatches. "Twenty thousand German dead and wounded, 
nearly half the attacking force, lay upon the field, while the 
British losses did not exceed 2,000." 

THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN ALSACE 

At the end of October the French right wing in Alsace- 
Lorraine was reported to be making distinct progress. It was 
said to be advancing through the passes of the Vosges in the 
midst of heavy snowstorms. Paris reported that the Ger- 
mans, who were attempting a movement against the great 
French frontier fortress of Belfort, had been driven back with 
heavy losses, while from other sources the Germans were re- 
ported to be bringing up heavy mortars for the bombardment 
of Belfort. There were persistent reports of German defeats 
in Alsace, but these were repeatedly denied in Berlin. The 
situation in the territory coveted by the French appeared to 
resemble that farther west — neither side was making much 
headway. 

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 

In the eastern theater of war the conflict during October 
was waged with fortunes that favored, first one side and then 
the other. Contradictory claims were put forth from time to 
time by Petrograd, Vienna and Berlin, but the net result of 
the operations at the end of the thirteenth week of the war 
appeared to be that while the intended Russian march on 
Berlin had been completely checked, the Germans had been 
repulsed with heavy losses in all their attempts to cross the 
Vistula and occupy Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland, 
which was at one time seriously threatened. 

The fighting along the Vistula was fierce and prolonged 
for several days at a time. The Germans made numerous 
attempts to cross the river at different points by means of 
pontoon bridges, but these were destroyed by the Russian 
artillery as fast as completed. The slaughter on both sides 
was considerable. On October 28 the Russian battle front 
reached from Suwalki on the north to Sambor and Stryj on 
the south, a distance of about 267 miles. The German opera- 



LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 413 

tions on the Vistula were still in progress and Poland fur- 
nished the main arena of battle. East Prussia was practically- 
free from Russian troops, save at a few points near the bound- 
ary, but they strongly maintained their positions in Galicia. 

THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN 

After eleven weeks' bombardment by the Austrians, the 
Servian defenders of Belgrade were still bravely resisting, 
although half the city had been destroyed. The situation was 
such as to cause at once astonishment, pity and admiration. 

In the open field the Servians continued to hold their own 
against the Austrian forces opposed to them. Their Monte- 
negrin allies, under General Bukovitch, were reported to have 
defeated 16,000 Austrians, supported by six batteries of ar- 
tillery, at a point northeast of Serajevo. The battle termi- 
nated in a hand-to-hand bayonet conflict which lasted four 
hours. The Austrians are said to have lost 2,500 men, killed 
and wounded, while the Montenegrins claimed that their losses 
amounted to only 300 men. 

The trial of Gavrio Prinzip, the assassin of the Archduke 
Francis Ferdinand of Austria, and twenty-three of his alleged 
accomplices, had been proceeding at Serajevo and the Serv- 
ians and Montenegrins had made desperate but futile at- 
tempts to capture the city and liberate the prisoners. On 
October 27 the latter were all found guilty of treason and four 
were later sentenced to death. Thus was punished by Aus- 
trian law the crime that furnished the sad but insufficient 
excuse for the world's greatest war. 

THE CAMPAIGN IN THE PACIFIC 

Late in October the Kaiser was reported to have ordered 
the surrender of Tsing Tau, the German city in Kiauchau, 
China. The place had been battered for weeks by land and 
sea by the Japanese forces, and the surrender was ordered, it 
was said, to save the German forces and civilians from cer- 
tain annihilation if a defense by the garrison to the end were 
to be carried on. German warships were powerless to assist 
the beleaguered city, as Japanese and English war vessels had 
driven them far from the coast of China. 

The Japanese cruiser Takachiho was sunk by a mine in 
Kiauchau Bay on the night of October 17. One officer and 
nine members of the crew are known to have been saved. 



414 LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 

The cruiser carried a crew of 284 men. Her main battery con- 
sisted of eight 6-inch guns. 

MAIN FLEETS STILL INACTIVE 

Up to the last week in October the main fleets of the war- 
ring powers were still inactive, but rumors of intended Ger- 
man naval activity were frequent. The cat-and-mouse atti- 
tude of the British and German fleets in the North Sea was 
continued, the Germans lying snug in their ports, protected 
by their mines and submarines, while the British battleships 
lay in wait at all points of possible egress. The situation 
tried the patience of the people of both countries and there 
were frequent demands for action by the great and costly 
naval armaments. But the Germans apparently were not ready 
to risk a general engagement, and the British could not force 
them to come out and fight. The British admirals, therefore 
had, perforce, to pursue a policy of ' ' watchful waiting, ' ' irk- 
some as it was to all concerned, and "the tireless vigil in the 
North Sea," as it was termed by Mr. Asquith, was maintained 
day and night. No sea captain becalmed in the doldrums ever 
whistled for a wind more earnestly than the British Jack tars 
prayed for a chance at the enemy during those three months 
of playing the cat to Germany's mouse; and on the other 
hand, the German sailors were, no doubt, equally desirious 
of a chance to demonstrate the fighting abilities of their brand- 
new battleships. All were equally on the qui vive, for any 
hour might bring to the Germans the order to put to sea, and 
to the British the welcome cry of "Enemy in sight!" 

CARING FOR BELGIAN REFUGEES 

The plight of the Belgian people, including the refugees 
in Holland, England and France, was pitiable in the extreme 
and by the end of October had roused the sympathy of the 
entire world. A conservative estimate placed the number of 
Belgians expatriated at 1,500,000 out of a population of 7,000,- 
000. On October 26 Mr. Brand Whitlock, United States min- 
ister to Belgium, reported that the entire country was on the 
verge of starvation, while Holland and England had their 
hands full caring for the Belgians who had sought refuge in 
those countries. In eight cities of Holland there were said to 
be 500,000 Belgian refugees. Over 70,000 arrived in London 
in one week and a central committee in London had twenty- 



LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 415 

seven subcommittees at work in different cities in England, 
Scotland and Wales, placing the refugees in homes as rapidly 
as possible. The humanitarian problem of taking care of the 
Belgians was one of tremendous responsibility, but the people 
of the three countries in which most of them sought refuge 
rose nobly to the occasion and spared no effort to lessen their 
sufferings. 

MORE CANADIANS FOR THE FRONT 

It was announced in Ottawa, Canada, on October 19 that 
the Dominion Government had decided to put 30,000 more 
men in training in Canada, to be despatched to England when 
ready. As soon as the first unit of 15,000 was embarked, 
probably in December, another 15,000 men would be enlisted to 
replace them, the plan being to keep 30,000 men continuously 
in training, to be drawn upon in units of 10,000 or 15,000 as 
soon as equipped, during the continuance of hostilities in 
Europe. Thus with the 32,000 Canadian volunteers already 
landed in England, and 8,000 under arms guarding strategic 
points in the Dominion, Canada would soon raise 100,000 men 
as part of her contribution to Imperial defense. 



THE COST IN HUMAN LIFE 

The following estimate of casualties for the first three 
months (thirteen weeks) of the war is made from the best fig- 
ures obtainable at the time of going to press. The casualties 
represent an average of about 16 per cent of the forces actively 
engaged in the field. No complete official figures are obtain- 
able, but the best are those given out by the British war office, 
which up to the end of the tenth week of the war reported 
casualties amounting to 32,000 men, or about 16 per cent of the 
British expeditionary forces in the field at that time, which 
may be taken as a general ratio. Great Britain's casualties 
in officers during the same time amounted to 1,203, including 
280 killed, 625 wounded and 298 missing. 

German estimates of the Allies ' losses up to the middle of 
October placed the figure at 725,000 and Berlin officials then 
admitted German losses amounting to 225,000. The grand 
total of 1,347,000 killed, wounded and missing (thelatter in- 
cluding prisoners of war) on all sides, as estimated in the fol- 
lowing table, is therefore probably well grounded in fact. 



416 LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 

ESTIMATED LOSSES OF EUROPEAN FOECES IN THE FIELD UP TO 

OCTOBER 31, 1914 

Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. 

Germany 100,000 250,000 30,000 380,000 

Austria 60,000 125,000 40,000 225,000 

Total 160,000 375,000 70,000 605,000 

France 65,000 170,000 62,000 297,000 

Belgium 25,000 55,000 25,000 105,000 

Russia 40,000 125,000 50,000 215,000 

Great Britain.... 15,000 38,000 9,000 62,000 

Servia 15,000 35,000 5,000 55,000 

Montenegro 2,000 6,000 500 8,500 

Total 162,000 429,000 151,500 742,500 

Grand Total. . .322,000 804,000 221,500 1,347,500 

DAILY COST OF WAR 

The daily cost of the present war to the nations engaged 
in the struggle is estimated at not less than $54,000,000 a day 
— a sum which fairly staggers the imagination. This enor- 
mous cost of the armies in the field gives a decided advantage 
to the nation best supplied with the 1 1 sinews of war ' ' and may 
contribute to a shortening of hostilities. War is indeed a 
terrible drain upon the resources of a nation and only a few 
there are that can stand many months of war expenditures 
like those of August-October, 1914, amounting in the grand 
aggregate to nearly five billions of dollars ($5,000,000,000). 

TURKEY ENTERS THE WAR 

On October 29 an act which was regarded in Russia as 
equivalent to a declaration of war by Turkey was committed 
at Theodosia, the Crimean port, when that town was bom- 
barded without notice by the cruiser Breslau, flying the 
Turkish flag, but commanded by a German officer and manned 
by a German crew. The Breslau was a former German ship, 
and was said to have been purchased by the Turkish govern- 
ment, with the German battleship Goeben, when they sought 
refuge in the Dardanelles at the beginning of the war, from 
the French and British fleets in the Mediterranean. 



LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR 416a 

Turkey's abrupt entrance into the European conflict was 
the overshadowing feature of the war as the third month of 
its duration ended. 

After the bombardment of Theodosia, the Russian port of 
Odessa was the next point of attack by Turkish warships. 
October 29 and 30 several Russian vessels, including two tor- 
pedo-boats, were sunk by the Breslau and Goeben, aided by 
other Turkish war vessels, and these irrevocable acts were 
regarded as throwing Turkey on the side of Germany and 
Austria in the war. German diplomacy at Constantinople 
was believed to be responsible for Turkey's action, with which 
the Russian authorities at Petrograd professed to be well sat- 
isfied, as it would give them an opportunity to clean up the 
entire Balkan situation and possibly gain, by the defeat of 
Turkey, their long-coveted means of exit from the Black Sea. 

The Allies apparently were by no means surprised at the 
action of the war party in the Ottoman Empire, headed by 
Enver Pasha. There was danger that the Turkish develop- 
ments would embroil Italy, Greece and Roumania in the war, 
while the attitude of Bulgaria was in doubt. It was regarded 
as a foregone conclusion that Greece would seize the chance 
to make war on Turkey, her ancient enemy, while popular 
sentiment in Italy, whose forces had been mobilizing ever 
since the beginning of the war, was in favor of joining the 
Allies if events forced the nation to enter the conflict. 

The Turkish army was reported to be inefficiently equipped 
and poorly fed, and English authorities expressed the belief 
that the action of Turkey would not change the military situ- 
ation, but would doom Turkey in Europe to complete extinc- 
tion. It was assumed that overt acts would soon bring Turkey 
into a state of war with the Allies and that the Dardanelles 
would then be forced by the British and French fleets, which 
would take care of the Turkish vessels in the Black Sea, in- 
cluding the former German ships, Breslau and Goeben. 

BATTLE OF THE AISNE PROLONGED 

The operations in the valley of the Aisne had by this time 
taken on the character of a prolonged siege. Both sides were 
strongly intrenched and apparently prepared for an indefinite 
resistance. But there was no relaxation, either of vigilance 



<cf¥7 
416b LATER. EVENTS OF THE WAR 

of of active efforts to gain the upper hand. Artillery duels, 
day and night attacks by infantry with machine guns, and 
countless aerial reconnoissances continued to the point of 
monotony. The troops on both sides became inured to the life 
in the trenches and as the days and weeks passed sought to 
make themselves comfortable in their dug-out shelters against 
shrapnel and shell. As the cold weather approached the con- 
test developed into a test of human endurance as well as of 
courage and military skill. Despite the most reckless recon- 
noitering, there seemed to be no weak points in the line for 
either side to penetrate. 

But while the battle of the Aisne and the operations at 
Verdun seemed thus to continue indecisive their results were 
seen in strategic developments elsewhere. The siege of Ant- 
werp and the German march to the North Sea in an endeavor 
to force a way into France by the way of the coast cities, were 
undoubtedly prompted by the prolongation of the struggle in 
the center. The great fighting machine had been halted and a 
demonstration of its powers was needed to maintain its repu- 
tation, inspire its units and sustain the spirit of the Father- 
land. Belgium, with its seaports, offered the opportunity and 
became the victim of the deliberate attack which drove 250,000 
of the inhabitants of Antwerp, Ostend and nearby Belgium 
towns and villages from their homes into pathetic exile. 

GERMANS RETIRE IN BELGIUM 

On October 31 it was reported that the Allies, after severe 
fighting, had reoccupied Lille and advanced a considerable 
distance to the east. There were also indications of a Ger- 
man retirement in Belgium. Ostend was said to have been 
evacuated by the Germans, who were apparently fortifying 
a new defensive position near Zeebrugge, after sustaining 
losses reported to aggregate 40,000 killed and wounded at the 
Yser River, in futile attempts to push southward along the 
coast. The fighting in Flanders had been the fiercest and 
most desperate of the entire campaign. 






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